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To Trust Love

Chapter 8

Notes:

Let's play a game I call "spot the canon quotes"!

Also, a warning for domestic violence for this chapter bc Jesse Manes, ya know? Take care of your brains, darlings!

(That being said, this chapter is dedicated to my fellow abuse kids. Swallow your abusers whole, guys. Swallow. Them. Whole.)

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

 

 

 

They actually did manage to sleep for a few hours. Michael drifted off into the warmth of Alex’s mind and slept without dreams. He woke up to the excruciating pleasure of Alex rucking up his shirt and kissing his way up his chest.

Michael felt a deep, weighty happiness. Whether it originated from him or Alex, he couldn’t determine and it didn’t matter anyway.

Alex made his way to Michael’s lips but kept the kiss brief. “It’s go time.”

“If this was how you woke your guys for a mission, no wonder they made you a captain.”

Alex was sleep-rumpled, his hair smashed down on one side. He wrinkled his nose, but Michael could feel the affection fizzing between them. “They made me a captain for superior tactical skills and bravery in the field.”

“Whatever you say.”

Alex put on his prosthetic and combed his hair with his fingers. He pulled on a long-sleeved shirt that was the same dark green as his nails. Michael ran his fingers through his curls and was ready. Alex’s clothes on his body felt bulletproof.

When they went out to the kitchen, everyone else was eating sandwiches and coffee. Max and Isobel stood off in the corner together and Michael immediately went to them.

He didn’t ask if they were alright, because obviously none of them were in the face of what they were about to do. Instead, he punched Max in the arm and tugged Isobel’s ponytail, which distracted them from their fear long enough to glare at him. Michael was the best brother.

“You all know the plan,” Alex said. His captain voice cut through the quiet room. It was no-nonsense and brisk. Michael was the only one who could feel the concern that lay behind it. “Be safe and be smart. We can do this.”

“If we do, do we get a cookie?” That was Liz, sandwich in hand.

Maria said, “A bottle of whiskey or I’m out.”

“I thought we got certificates,” Kyle said seriously. “I would very much like a certificate.”

Isobel ducked her head to hide a smile. Michael felt his love for these humans grow in a way that was definitely not coming from him.

“Oh get in the damn car, all of you,” Alex said.

 

 

Caulfield had a service tunnel that led from the basement into the desert, right where a river had cut a gorge into the landscape. Too far away from the cellblock to have been useful during the escape, but very handy for sneaking back in. Michael did not want to think about why the prison needed covert access to a gorge or a quick-flowing river. He wondered if his ashes would have eventually ended up getting tossed here, or if they would have kept those for experiments too.

Alex was sitting in the front passenger seat next to Maria. He had brought a crutch with him. Michael had seen Valenti pull him aside for a quiet conversation about it that had ended with Alex slapping him on the back and swinging himself into the car.

Michael probably should have asked about it, but he didn’t have the capacity at the moment. The closer they got to Caulfield, the more everything inside him shrunk. He could feel himself shutting down those soft, warm parts of himself and going into survival mode.

Max and Isobel sat silently next to him. They were holding hands.

When they reached the entrance of the tunnel, everyone except Maria got out.

“I’ll be waiting. Hey blondie,” she said to Isobel, “see you back here, okay?”

Isobel flicked her hair over her shoulder. “Don’t call me blondie. And sure, fine, I’ll see you.”

Alex had already hooked his computer up to the access port of the door and was doing computer magic. Michael’s dread was a living thing, now. He almost didn’t want Alex to be able to open it.

Alex glanced over at him and Michael’s head was flooded with determination. They could do this, Alex was telling him. Michael believed him.

The light on the keypad flashed green and the door opened. Alex packed his laptop in his backpack and tossed Max a flashlight. “Lead the way, Evans.”

They made a strange procession: Max, Isobel and Liz grouped together up front, Valenti in the middle, and Alex and Michael bringing up the back with flashlights of their own. They walked quickly and quietly.

Alex was in military mode. He moved differently, precise and deliberate. He had strapped the crutch to his backpack for now.

It should have made him feel better, seeing Alex ready to kick some ass. It didn’t. It just reminded Michael that there was a good reason to be afraid.

Suddenly, Michael was thinking about how it had felt to fall asleep wrapped up in Alex, how safe and good it had been. He was filled with those feelings again so unexpectedly that he stumbled over his own feet.

He pointed his flashlight at Alex’s face, accusingly.

Alex’s mouth had a satisfied curve that was unfairly hot. What a little bastard.

Michael bumped his shoulder lightly against his.

 

* * * *

 

It took Alex a few minutes to hack the door on the other side of the tunnel, but he got it in the end. When they emerged into the basement it was dark and empty.

The aliens huddled for a complicated hug, and Alex felt Michael’s terror of being ripped away from them for a brief moment before he got it under control. Sending Michael good emotions was distracting Alex from unpleasant thoughts, so he kept doing it.

Michael untangled himself from his siblings and went over to Alex. “Don’t die.”

Alex kept his hands at his sides because if he reached for Michael he wouldn’t be able to let go. “I won’t if you won’t.”

Michael kissed him fast and hard. Alex felt it sear into his mind.

Then Michael was gone, heading to the labs with Liz and Isobel in tow.

Alex gave himself a mental shake and let determination rise inside him. “Let’s go,” he told Max and Kyle.

 

 

 

The servers were located on ground level. No one stopped them, the prison was still quiet. So far so good.

“There are two entrances to this room,” Alex said. “Kyle, I need you watching the other.”

It was true, but he also needed Kyle out of the way for what was going to happen next.

Kyle was pale, but he nodded and went to stand outside the door. Max stayed with him, his eye on the door they’d entered.

Alex got settled on the floor. It wasn’t hard to crack the encryption, and it was easier to find the data. It was a little harder to find all the backups and double-backups, but Alex rooted them out eventually. He wiped all references to aliens surgically, leaving everything else intact.

“This is going to take a bit to run,” he told Max, “but it will alert you when it’s finished. After that, all you need to do is disconnect the laptop and go. The door to the tunnel is open but it will lock behind you, so be sure you have everyone before you close it.”

Max looked down at him. “You’re saying that like you’re not going to be there.”

“That’s because I’m staying. The higher-ups need evidence that my father has gone off the rails.”

Max nodded, slowly. This was why Alex had designed the teams the way he had, even though it had almost killed him to send Michael back to the labs alone. Out of everyone, Max Evans was the most likely to let him go.

“I need you to get the others out,” Alex said.

“Michael won’t go without you.”

“Make him.”

“If you die, it’s going to break him.” Max was brutally blunt. “I don’t want that to happen.”

“I’m not planning on dying.”

Max had genuine concern in his eyes. “Then what are you planning?”

“I’m going to provide evidence. But it’ll be for nothing if Michael gets caught. You do whatever you need to do. Knock him unconscious and carry him if you have to.”

“He’s going to hate me.” Max looked more disturbed over that than he had during this entire mission. Alex liked him a bit more for it.

He gave Max a wry smile. “Don’t worry, he’s going to be too pissed at me to hate you.”

“I’ll get them all out,” Max said. “I swear.”

It was a weight off Alex’s shoulders. “Thanks.”

“Thank you. For whatever you’re going to do, thank you.”

Alex didn’t know how to respond to the honest gratitude in Max’s face, so he focused on taking off his prosthetic instead. It was terrifying, but that wasn’t an emotion he wanted Michael to know about quite yet so he locked it away. “Give me a hand up?”

Max pulled him to his feet and handed him the crutch. “I wondered why you brought that.”

Alex felt---no. He couldn’t think about how he was feeling right now. “Nothing says harmless like a crutch. Take the prosthetic with you, I’m going to want it when I get back.”

Max squeezed his shoulder. The clumsy, well-intentioned affection of the gesture reminded him of his unit. “I’ll see you then.”

Alex took a practice step, getting back into the balance of the crutch.

Then he went to find his father.

 

* * * *

 

“So, next time I vote we do Disneyland.”

“Shh!” Liz hissed.

Michael’s mouth just kept right on moving. “I’m just saying, this is a crap vacation spot. We’ve already been here, first of all.”

“Shut up!” Isobel said. “Do you want them to catch us?”

Michael very emphatically did not want that.

But he also didn’t want to walk into the labs where he’d been tortured for ten years, so.

Alex’s steadiness was the only thing that allowed him to do it.

The doctors were at their work stations, bent over their microscopes and computers. Dr. Bates was the only one who looked up when the three of them walked in. Her eyes grew wide with terror that did Michael’s heart good.

“Hey doc,” he said, and let his powers flood out of him.

He could only hold everyone in the lab immobile for few seconds, but it was enough. Isobel was doing her thing, her face going pale and concentrated. All around the room eyes unfocused and faces grew slack. Michael held onto their bodies as long as he could, but his powers faded out, leaving him shaky and nauseous. How was Isobel doing this? She looked sick but not debilitated. Whatever conversations she’d had with Maria about psychic stuff had clearly paid off.

Liz had already darted to the workstations and was systematically destroying samples. She knew what to look for, which was why they’d brought her. Michael about to start helping when he heard a familiar drawling voice said, “Freeze, all of you.”

Wyatt Long was in the doorway with a gun because of course he fucking was.

Michael couldn’t help it. He froze.

Thanks for nothing, trauma.

Alex exploded inside his head: his anger at Wyatt, his desire to beat the guy to a fucking pulp, his urge to move, move, move, Michael!

Michael crashed into Wyatt, sending him stumbling back. They grappled for the gun. Michael felt the other man’s breath in his face.

“B-3,” Wyatt panted, “if you stop now it’ll be easier on you later.”

Michael felt the truth of that lie try to worm into him. Alex shouted at him.

Michael pulled the gun from Wyatt’s hands and threw it aside. He backed away, breathing hard. “Give it up, Long. You’re not the kind of guy to kill someone with your bare hands.”

Wyatt laughed and pulled a syringe from his pocket. “You think we’ve been sitting on our asses? This is the new stuff the docs brewed up. One stick and you can kiss your freaky voodoo goodbye. Though you were never the kissing type. Liked it hard and rough, didn’t you?”

Wyatt lunged, but not at him. He brought the syringe down in a glittering arc directly towards Isobel. She stood unseeing, too caught up in her mind to notice what was happening around her.

Michael pulled whatever scraps of power he had and threw it all at Wyatt. His hand froze in mid-air.

Michael lurched forward right as his control snapped. He caught Wyatt’s wrist in both hands. Wyatt yelled, trying to pull himself out of Michael’s grip. The syringe was caught between their bodies as they fought.

Wyatt’s hands were all over him. He was so close. He smelled like sweat and antiseptic.

Michael didn’t want Wyatt Long to ever touch him again.

He gave a ferocious shove. The syringe pierced Wyatt’s chest.

Michael’s brain pushed the plunger all the way down.

Wyatt stumbled back, eyes wide. “What did you do?” he shrieked. “Oh my god! Is this stuff going to kill me?”

The satisfaction he felt mostly Alex’s. “Guess we’ll find out.”

Liz, bless her, had been working through the entire fight. “Almost done,” she reported. “You good, Michael?”

He watched Wyatt sink down to the ground. Alex was practically purring in his mind. They really should talk about the guy’s homicidal tendencies, except it was ridiculously hot.

“I’m good.”

Isobel surfaced with a gasp. The doctors around her slumped. “I did it,” she breathed. She staggered, and Michael caught her. “They don’t remember us.”

Michael watched Dr. Bates sprawled in her chair, eyes closed. She had smiled at Alex while she’d hurt him. “So we just leave them?”

“We’re the good guys,” Liz said firmly.

“Plus, we are not wasting my hard work,” Isobel said. She looked at Wyatt, who was making unpleasant gurgling noises. “Ugh, let’s go.”

“Don’t you need to mind-whammy him?” Michael asked.

She glanced at him. “Sure,” she said eventually, “hang on.”

Her hesitation told him that she didn’t expect Wyatt Long to be alive long enough to be a threat. She closed her eyes for a few seconds before saying, “Done.”

He didn’t ask whether Isobel had actually done anything to Wyatt’s brain or not. He didn’t want to know whether he was a murderer. It might be cowardly, but he figured he’d been brave enough for one fucking day.

“All your genetic material has been destroyed,” Liz said. “I searched everywhere.”

“The others should be almost done,” Michael said. He needed to get back to Alex. He needed Alex to hold him and tell him that he had done the right thing.

He needed to thank him for getting him through this.

“Let’s go before Jesse Manes gets here,” Isobel said darkly.

The reminder was enough to send them all running back to the basement.

 

* * * *

 

Alex had told Michael once that he wouldn’t use a crutch in Caulfield. Vulnerability was against the Manes’ family rules. It had been beaten into Alex’s body and drilled into his brain.

He was making his own rules now.

So he walked through the hallways with one leg, no weapons, and his alien in his head. It was everything his father hated and everything Alex wanted. 

Jesse Manes would see weakness. He didn’t know what Alex had learned: vulnerability brought its own type of power.

 “Alex.”

There was his father, right on cue. He stood at the end of the hallway, his face like every nightmare Alex had ever had.

“Hey dad.”

“Wyatt is dealing with the disruption in the labs. I suppose strategy was just one more thing you failed to learn.”

Alex wasn’t exactly sure what Michael had done to Wyatt, but he knew the threat had been neutralized. He let some of his satisfaction sneak into his voice. “Well gosh, how unfortunate.”

Jesse narrowed his eyes. He stalked forward. “You really think you can win?”

There were cameras in this hallway. Alex had learned the position of every one. It was for their benefit that he said, “I’m just checking on the servers.”

Jesse heard the threat in those words. He knew what Alex could do with a computer. “What have you done?”

“I don’t know, dad. What do you think I’ve done?” Alex’s tone was mild enough for an outside observer, but his father could hear the insolence in it.

He didn’t have to fake his surprise when his father moved. The man was quick and brutal. He tore the crutch out of Alex’s hand and slammed him against the wall with his hand around his throat. There were ways to get out of a hold like this and Alex had studied every one.

He didn’t use them.

“They almost killed your brother,” Jesse spit.

“Flint was a rapist,” Alex managed around the grip on his throat. “Whatever happened to him was justice.”

“Are you so deep in their control that you’d turn against your family?”

Alex looked deep into those ice-chip eyes. Nothing like his own. Put him and his father next to each other and no one would guess they were related. All their similarities had been internal, the Manes family curse of violence and abuse.

Alex was breaking that curse today.

“You’re not my family,” he said.

He wished it felt less terrifying.

 

* * * *

 

They met Max in the basement. He was jogging towards their group, obviously on his way to find them. He shooed Liz and Isobel through the entrance of the tunnel. “Let’s go, come on!”

Following Max’s orders was second nature, especially with that anxiety in his voice. Isobel and Liz ran through the tunnel door where Valenti was waiting for them. Michael was halfway through after them before he realized what Valenti was holding. 

“Max,” he said.

Max gave him a light shove from behind. “Move, Michael.”

“No, hang on, why do you have---where’s Alex?”

He wasn’t in trouble, Michael would have felt that. He had the same determined calm he’d had since this started.

So why on earth was Kyle holding his prosthetic? Why did his expression look like…that?

“He’s coming later,” Max said.

“What? What the hell do you mean?” That was Liz. Kyle drew close to her and murmured. She shook her head vehemently.

Terror started dripping into him.

“We don’t have time for this,” Isobel said, her voice echoing off the tunnel walls. She was a silhouette against the blackness.

“Alex is staying behind,” Max said, his voice gentling. “He has a plan and he’s seeing it through.”

“A plan where he doesn’t have his leg?” Michael said. “Yeah, no, fuck whatever that is. You guys go, I’m staying.”

Max did not move out of the doorway. “He made me promise to get you out.”

Michael straightened slowly. “Well you know what they say about making promises you can’t keep.”

“Boys!” Isobel had insinuated herself between them. “Can we not do this right now? Alex told us to go, so we need to go.”

Which was when Alex’s emotions hit him. He stumbled against her.

“Michael, what’s wrong?”

“It’s Alex.” Michael could barely breathe, like someone was choking him.

He remembered Alex asking if he could block out certain feelings. Like pain? Alex had asked, and Michael hadn’t thought to question it.

“Oh, I’m going to kill him,” Michael panted. “I’m going to murder him in his sleep and then bring him back to life and, and, fuck!

He fought to manage the panic and helplessness that was pouring out of Alex in a hateful sludge. There was only one person who messed Alex up this much.

Fuck Alex for thinking he had to face his father alone. It wasn’t fair.

Michael lunged at Max.

His brother was ready for him, braced immovable. Isobel had a hold on one of his arms and was pulling him back. Michael fought them as hard as he’d ever fought anyone in Caulfield but he was weak, his powers finally depleted. He couldn’t even make Max stumble.

Isobel pulled and Max pushed, and Michael stumbled back into the tunnel.

“Don’t!”

“No!” Liz shouted.

The door shut, leaving them in the dark. Alex was the one who’d opened it last time, and Alex wasn’t here.

 

* * * *

 

His father tightened his grip around his throat. It made Alex’s brain stutter. Skip. He was back in that shed and he could smell Kyle’s aftershave and…

Goddamn it, not now.

“Where,” his father gritted out, “are they?”

“Who?

Michael heaved in his head. Max had obviously broken the news and he was clearly keeping his promise, because Michael was too furious for anything else. It swirled inside him in a terrible blur. Alex could feel himself locking down, under threat from inside and outside.

Michael was so angry at him.

His father was angry with him too. Jesse slugged him in the stomach, and any fractured rib was now officially broken.

Alex couldn’t handle this. Michael and his father were going to ruin him. He couldn’t…he couldn’t…

No.

Michael was not Jesse Manes. Vulnerability could be strength.

Alex gathered all his trust and showed Michael exactly how much he needed him. He didn’t need Michael running in to help him win a fight. Alex needed him.

“Tell me where the aliens are, son.” Jesse’s voice was dispassionate. Cold.

“You’re crazy.”

His father curled his fist tight in his hair and pulled hard. He used that grip to drag him down the hallway.

His hair was being pulled for the first time in so long. It was just so bad.

Alex’s mind slipped, slipped…

…and Michael caught him.

It flooded over him all at once: calm and safety and togetherfamilyhome.

Despite everything, Michael was right there with him, and so Alex could do this. Alex could fucking do this. 

Jesse opened a door and threw Alex inside the observation cell where he’d been held before.

His father was going to hurt him, but he knew with Michael’s absolute certainty that it wasn’t because he deserved it. It was because his father was an abusive dick.

And it was going to be the last time.

There was still a camera in the corner of the ceiling. Alex made sure to fall where it could see him. “Why are you doing this?” he asked, so it would be recorded. Michael’s confidence gave Alex the courage he needed for sarcasm. “You think I’m going to tell you where to find the aliens?”

“You’ll tell me,” Jesse said, with terrifying confidence of his own. “I’ll be sure to leave your tongue intact.”

 

* * * *

 

“I’m sorry,” Max said.

Michael ripped himself out of his siblings’ hands and wiped furious tears out of his eyes. “Get off me, I’ve got shit to do.”

No matter how angry he was, he wouldn’t hurt Alex. That had been a promise Michael had made.

He brought his mind back to last night, Alex telling him to breathe. He breathed and forced himself to calm. Michael opened his mind as wide as he knew how and let Alex sink into him.

He was so deeply in his head that he barely registered that they were walking. While Max argued with Liz, Michael thought about his and Alex’s kiss in the desert. He tried to send the essence of the memory through their bond.

He only gave a passing thought to the fact that the tunnel roof had turned to starlit sky above him. He did register Maria running up to them and saying, “How did it go? Guys, where’s Alex?”

Michael couldn’t pay attention to her. His mind was blown wide, completely open and attuned only to Alex. So when the pain struck, he was defenseless.

Michael dropped to the ground with a cry of agony.

“Michael!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh my god.”

“Get him in the car!”

Michael had told Alex he could block certain feelings and let others through. Maybe that would have been true if Michael hadn’t just spent all his energy connecting them in every way he could. The sensations from Alex had blended together so completely that there was no separating them. If he blocked out Alex’s pain, he would lose the connection entirely.

The ground beneath him was soft and it was moving.

“Can someone please tell me what is happening?” Valenti demanded.

Isobel’s voice, very close. “They’re connected again. Michael, what the hell were you thinking?”

Not the ground, the backseat. There was angry conversation happening all around him, but he didn’t care.

Maria’s voice cut through the squabbling. “Is Alex alive?”

“Yes,” Michael rasped. “Jesse Manes, he---augh.” Pain sliced through him, exactly like a bone snapping. He was on fire with it.

He shoved it down deep, keeping it from Alex. He kept their connection humming with the warmth and softness Alex needed to get through this.

“He’s hurting him.” It felt like he was talking through a mouthful of blood.

Alex could take his father in a fight. If he wasn’t defending himself, it had to be part of his plan.

If Alex had a plan, it was because of Michael.

“Michael,” Isobel said, soothing. “I need you to block him out of your head, okay? We talked about this, I know you can do it.”

“He needs me.”

We need you!”

“I won’t leave him there alone.”

He curled into himself when the pain came again and Isobel eased his head into her lap. She carded shaking fingers through his hair. “Then block the pain at least. Please, Michael. Please!”

“Can’t. All or nothing.”

Back in Caulfield, Jesse Manes did something that made Alex want to scream.

Michael screamed for him.  

“Shut him out!” Isobel shouted. “Right now, Michael!”

“No!”

“Isobel, stop,” Max said. He rubbed Michael’s back comfortingly. “We’re right here, Michael. We’ve got you.”

Michael took the words and turned them outward so that Alex could feel them. I’ve got you, we’ve all got you, you’re not alone.

Through the fear and the pain, he felt Alex reaching back.

 

* * * *

 

His father had beaten him out of anger before. That’s not what this was. What he was doing to Alex now was enhanced interrogation for a very specific confession.

Usually when he was in this much pain, Alex divorced his mind from his body. But his father was asking him questions, and he had to answer with the right balance for him and the camera. He had to stay present.

“Where are the subjects?”

“I can’t tell you what you want to hear.”

Instead, he leaned hard into Michael. He was still there, a constant stream of support flooding through him. Alex reminded himself that Michael wasn’t feeling any of this. He was probably worried, but he was safe.

It felt like it had been so long. Surely his backup should be here by now?

Jesse dropped him to the ground. Alex didn’t bother to soften his fall, there was nothing on his body that didn’t hurt. His father stared down at him. “This is your fault. I told you before, back in that lab, I can hurt him or I can hurt you. You’ve made sure that you are the only one here.”

Alex spat the blood out of his mouth, directly onto his father’s shoes.

Jesse Manes refused to be goaded. “Tell me where they are.”

And, finally, the door burst open.

“What the hell is going on here? Manes!”

“Back away from him, sir. I said back away!”

Alex peered out of swollen eyes at the figures in familiar uniforms.

“Captain Manes, can you hear me?” It was a woman’s voice, sharp and unforgettable. “C’mon, Manes, you aren’t allowed to be dead.”

“’s about time, Cam,” he mumbled.

Lieutenant Colonel Jenna Cameron was an avenging angel in an Air Force uniform. She had Jesse up against the wall, his hands behind his back. “Master Sargent, I am relieving you from command.”

“You are interfering with an active military operation.”

“I outrank you so high I can barely see you. I’ve just caught you beating a member of your guard half to death, one who just so happens to be a decorated veteran and a close personal friend of mine. I will do more than interfere, I will burn this operation to the ground if I see fit, do you understand?”

“He is a traitor,” Jesse said.

“Save it for the court martial.”

“I was doing what I had to do to protect this country!”

“Get him out of here.”

His sight was blurry, but watching his father get led away in handcuffs was the most satisfying sight Alex had ever seen. When his father looked at him, Alex gave him a bloody smile.

Cameron squatted down next to him and felt for his pulse. “Can you breathe?”

“Sort of.”

“Can you sit up?”

“Let’s find out.”

She eased Alex up to a sitting position. The room darkened and then steadied.

“So,” she said, “when you called with concerns about this operation, you weren’t talking about the food.”

“Don’t make me laugh,” Alex warned. “I will pass out on you.”

“We have to get you to a doctor.”

“Mission report first.”

“My god, you’re just as stubborn as you were at eighteen. Fine, only because I know you’ll sit here all night if you have to. Tell me what happened.”

It hurt to talk, but these words were the ones Alex had come here to say. “He wanted to know where I’d taken the aliens.”

“So he’s crazy,” Cameron said.

“He’s crazy,” Alex confirmed.

It made it all worth it.  

Cameron was livid. “He also assaulted a superior officer.”

“Discharged.”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass. He almost killed you!”

It was nice to remember there were people outside of Roswell who cared about him. He’d had Cam’s back since basic. He’d cheered her on when she soared through the ranks. Now, the anger in her voice was more than he could have hoped for.

Plans spiraled out behind Cam’s eyes. “What kind of documentation can you give me?”

“There’s security footage of the hallway and this cell. It caught the whole thing.”

“Including the conversation where he actually accuses you of harboring aliens? Oh, I’m going to crucify him,” she vowed. “He’ll be lucky if he gets prison.”

“Thank you.”

Her teeth were barred in a fierce snarl. “It’ll be a pleasure. He’s the shitbag father, right?”

She was the only one in the Air Force who knew a fraction of the truth. “Yes.”

“Then I only wish we still hanged people.”

An airman came to the door. “Lieutenant Colonel? There’s a man asking for Captain Manes.”

Dread swept over him. Michael couldn’t be here. Max had promised.

Kyle’s face popped into view over the guy’s shoulder.

“He says he’s Captain Manes’ primary physician?”

Alex slumped with relief. “Yes. Yes, he is.”

“I heard you needed a doctor.” Kyle’s voice was carefully professional.

 Cameron studied him. “And you heard this how, exactly?”

Alex could not think of anything better than having Kyle beside him right now. “Cam, please.”

“Whatever, Manes. I don’t care who the hell he is if you let him patch you up.” Her words were dismissive, but her hands were gentle when she helped him up.

Kyle darted around to his other side, but it still took a long time and a lot of deep breathing. The room wavered and barely settled. Alex figured he had only a few minutes of consciousness left.

Kyle said, “Where do you want to do this?”

“My quarters.”

No cameras. Plus, a bed.

“We’ll need your statement,” Cameron said.

“When he’s ready,” Kyle said firmly.

“Not too long,” she warned.

 

 

Walking was white-hot agony. Michael was back in the front of his mind, probably called by Alex’s distress. It was the only thing that got Alex to his room without screaming.

Kyle eased him onto the tiny bed and Alex lay very still, letting the pain stabilize. He released his mind from its anchor and floated out of himself.

Time blurred.

He came back to the present slowly. The pain had faded to a distant static, which meant he was on heavy-duty painkillers. He could smell Kyle’s aftershave in the air. 

Alex opened his eyes.

Kyle was sitting on the side of the bed, carefully splinting the two middle fingers of his left hand. His shoulders hitched as he snatched breaths and held them, and Alex realized the guy had tears on his cheeks.  

Alex hadn’t seen Kyle cry since fifth grade.

“Hey,” he croaked, “it’s okay.”

Kyle didn’t look up from his task. “Don’t talk, you might have a damaged larynx.”

“Kyle…”

“I mean it, Alex!” Kyle’s voice cracked, but his hands were steady.

Alex stayed quiet and watched him.

Kyle finished with the splints. His eyes were rimmed with red. He tipped Alex’s head slowly to the right, to the left, testing his range of motion.

“You know, medical school teaches you a lot of words,” he said. “Contusion. Hemorrhaging. Metacarpal, phalange, true rib. But it doesn’t teach you how to apply them to someone you care about.” He wiped his eyes with his sleeve. “I could run a class. You’re turning me into an expert.”

He laid gentle fingers over Alex’s throat. “Okay, you can try to say something.”

Alex cleared his throat painfully. “I’m sorry.”

Kyle looked conflicted. “I am so mad at you right now.”

“That’s fair.”

“You can’t do this to us. I can’t---Alex, do you know how close he got to shattering your eye sockets? He almost blinded you.”

Alex tried to see it from Kyle’s point of view, but all he could see was his father in handcuffs. “It was the only way.”

“If you’d talked to us we could have come up with a plan that didn’t involve you going back to your abuser!”

“It was my problem to fix. He’s my family.”

“All right, maybe,” Kyle said, his voice defiant, “but you are mine.”

Alex had only admitted that inside his own head. Hearing the words made him prickle with embarrassed heat.

Kyle plowed on. ”Other than my mom, you and Liz are all I’ve got. I’m so tired of looking at you and seeing medical terms.”

“I had to keep you all safe,” Alex croaked. His voice was thin. His words weren’t enough.

“How about we keep each other safe, then, huh?”

Alex knew that he would always throw himself between them and pain. “It was my choice to make. I couldn’t let anyone else get hurt because of it.”

Kyle’s face did something complicated.

Alex’s heart tripped. He realized there was a very important question he hadn’t asked. “Where are the others?”

“At the cabin,” he said slowly. “They had to get Michael back.”

Alex felt a wave of relief. Michael’s emotions were quiet now, though Alex could still sense his presence. Either the drugs were interfering or Michael was blocking the mark. “How is he?”

Kyle’s expression darkened. “Man, I know we just had a beautiful moment and everything, but are you serious?”

Alex’s throat really did hurt. It forced him to whisper the next words. “What do you mean?”

“Michael is not good. You did that mind link thing right before you served yourself up to get tortured. He’s very much not good.”

“He can block pain.” Alex could barely get the words out. There was a crushing pressure on his chest, a dawning truth he didn’t want to see. “He said he could.”

“I don’t know about that,” Kyle said steadily, “but I know that he didn’t. He was screaming when I left.”

“No.”

Alex couldn’t think of anything else to say. Just a simple denial of something that couldn’t be true.

Kyle didn’t take the words back.

“No, he wasn’t supposed to get hurt. That was the point of this. That was the point.” Alex was a breath away from shattering. “Kyle,” he begged, “why didn’t he block me out?”

Kyle gave him a look that was compassion and steel. “He said he didn’t want to leave you alone.”

When Alex broke, Kyle put a hand on his shoulder. His silence was a mercy Alex didn’t deserve.

 

* * * *

 

When Kyle texted that he was with Alex and that the danger was past, Michael let himself surface from Alex’s mind. He blinked back to awareness on the couch in the main room of the cabin. Isobel was lying on the couch adjacent to his, asleep. Max sat on the floor between the two of them, eyes closed.

“Take it easy,” Maria DeLuca said. She was sitting on the couch next to him. Michael found that he didn’t mind her so close. When he looked at her, he felt how Alex felt about her. She was completely safe.

“You’re in your own head again,” she said. “I can see it.”

“Mostly,” Michael said quietly.

“I can’t decide if you’re the kindest person I’ve ever met or the stupidest.”

He managed a grin for her. “Shoot, DeLuca, why you gotta hold me to a binary like that?”

It made her laugh. She had a beautiful laugh, the kind that made him want to keep saying things to hear it. “Stupidly kind, then.”

“Stupid, for sure.”

She shook her head fondly. “You know, I’ve never seen Alex like he is around you.”

“You mean getting his dumb ass half-killed to protect me?” 

“That’s pretty standard Alex, unfortunately.”

“…fuck.”

“He’s lighter around you. Hopeful. Of course he’s going to protect you, Guerin, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to him.” Maria made a face. “It doesn’t excuse what he did, letting you get hurt like that. You’d better believe I’m going to rip him a new one when he gets back.”

“Hey, that’s not on him. That was all me.”

“He lied to us,” Maria insisted. “He put himself in that position in the first place after he looked me in the face and said he was fine.”

Michael had been so angry with Alex before, when the reality of his plan had crashed in on him. He just couldn’t muster it now. Alex’s peace had sifted through along with the pain. Whatever he’d done, he’d thought it was worth it.

Michael shrugged. DeLuca had the right to feel however she did, but so did he. “When’s he coming back?”

“Kyle said they’re waiting to give a statement to the Air Force before they release them. There’s going to be all kinds of military shit.”

“Not a fan?”

“The first airman I met was Jesse Manes,” Maria said. “Leaves a bad taste, you know?”

“Oh, I know.”

Maria patted his shoulder. “Well, at least that gives us a while to plan our angry lectures. You want something to eat? I’ve got stuff for tacos.”

“Keep giving me food and you might replace Liz as second-favorite human.”

Maria pumped her fist in the air. “Tacos it is!”

 

 

A whole day passed. Michael slept through most of it, waking up only to check on his siblings (Isobel, tired and Max, wary) and eat whatever food Maria brought him.

Liz didn’t bring him food, but she did bring him the data from Caulfield that she’d pulled from Alex’s laptop.

“I want to keep my ranking,” she said.

“Back off, Ortecho,” Maria said from the kitchen.

Filtered through Alex’s affection, the women glowed.

The day melted into evening. Michael was starting to feel claustrophobic in the cabin, with Liz checking her phone every five minutes for news. There was only so much data he could sort through before he wanted to tear his own hair out. He went to the garage and got back to fixing the truck.

It was soothing, solving a problem with his hands. It chased away the memory of Wyatt’s touch on his skin, of the sounds he was making when Michael left him. It softened the memory of Alex’s pain and fear.

Yeah. Working on the truck was good. He sent a pinch of that calm through their bond. Alex accepted it with something like desperation. Air Force briefings must be rougher than Michael thought.

 Max came into the garage an hour later, just as the sun was setting. “Kyle texted Liz,” he said, “they’re on their way back.”

Michael stayed underneath the truck and kept trying to unscrew a rusted bolt. “Okay.”

“On a scale of stealing your chocolate when we were twelve to setting you up on a blind date for prom, how pissed are you at me?”

Michael gave the bolt a particularly hard twist. Damn thing wouldn’t budge. “You know why I always get so pissed with you?”

“Because I, and I quote, ‘literally hate everything you love’?”

“No. I mean, you do, but no.” He was glad he couldn’t see Max’s face for this, it was making him more honest. “You stole my candy because you thought I was eating too much sugar. You set me up for prom because you thought I was lonely. You didn’t let me go to Alex because you thought I’d get myself killed.”

“You would have!”

“Max,” Michael said, tiredly, “here’s what I need, okay? From now on, I make the decisions about my own life.”

“Sometimes you make crappy decisions.”

“Well, so do you.”

Max was quiet for a long time. The bolt finally loosened and came free. “I’ll try.”

“Try hard.”

“I said I’ll try, Michael, for heaven’s sake.”

He sounded so put-upon that Michael smirked. “Yeah, yeah. Why don’t you go tell Liz you delivered her message?”

“Liz is pissed at me too.” Oh yeah, Max was definitely sulking.

“Maybe you should tell her that you respect her choices and autonomy. Bet that helps.”

“I really don’t think it will.”

“Your funeral.”

Michael worked in the garage until he heard tires crunching on the dirt outside. He could feel Alex’s closeness in his head now, like a pleasant itch that wanted to be closer. He wiped the dirt off his hands and onto his jeans---Alex’s jeans, actually---and walked outside to meet them.

It was dark, and the only light was coming from the cabin windows. It was still enough to see Valenti open the passenger door of a military Jeep and help Alex out. It was enough to see how Alex clung to him for support.

Michael closed the distance between them faster than he’d intended.

“Need a hand?” he asked.

Alex startled badly and Valenti cursed. Any other words Michael had died in his throat when Alex turned towards him.

His eyes were black and blue, his lip was split, his fingers were broken, he stood like it hurt him, he was missing his leg, he…

He looked like someone had tried to kill him.

“Michael,” Alex whispered hoarsely.

“I’ve got him,” Valenti said, in a tone that booked no arguments. “You can open the front door.”

Michael did what he was told, numbly. He’d known, of course. He’d fucking felt it. But seeing the damage was different.

When Alex made it inside, everyone was gathered to watch. Maria and Liz clutched each other’s hands. Isobel took one look and marched out of the room.

Max was the only one with any sense. He said, “Got something of yours,” and offered Alex his prosthetic.

Michael felt Alex’s relief roll over him. “Thanks,” he croaked. “Kyle…”

Valenti seemed to understand what he needed, which, fine, whatever. He moved Alex to the table so that he could prop himself up while Valenti squatted down and put the prosthetic on for him.

Michael felt instantly guilty for how jealous that made him.

Alex glanced at him, surprise on his face. He didn’t comment, too busy standing on his own two feet and feeling more settled because of it.

“Alex,” Liz said, hushed.

“It looks worse than it is,” Alex said.

It was the absolute wrong thing to say to these people.

“I can’t fucking believe you,” Maria snapped.

“How could you do this to us?” Liz had tears in her voice.

Michael could see it all play out in his mind’s eye. The humans would blame and question and rage, and Alex wouldn’t see the love that motivated it. He’d just feel their disapproval and anger. He’d internalize it, just more reasons why Alex Manes was the same breed of monster as his father.

“Hey,” Michael said, loud enough to cut through the voices. “I get him first.”

When he saw Maria and Liz hesitate, he stared them down. “I think I’ve earned it.”

Maria pointed at both of them. “You better save some for me, Guerin.”

Michael offered Alex a shoulder to lean on. “C’mon, soldier. Time to face the music.”

 

 

* * * *

 

Alex started talking as soon as they reached the hallway. He explained his plan to provide evidence against his father and how Cameron fit in. “Between the footage of the assault and the testimony of the doctors swearing there were never any subjects in Caulfield, she’s got enough for an airtight case.”

“Uh huh,” Michael said, shutting the bedroom door behind them.

“The more he talks about aliens, the crazier he sounds and the safer you are. That’s why I did it, Michael, you have to know that I---”

“Do you want to sit or stand?” Michael interrupted.

“What? Um, stand.” Alex was starting to feel panicky. “Listen, I should have said this right away, but I am so sor---”

Michael brushed a thumb over Alex’s lips. It was a feather-light touch, but it stopped Alex like a shout.

Michael was studying him closely, almost like Kyle had when he was looking for injuries. But also nothing like Kyle. He undid the buttons of the uniform shirt Alex was wearing because it had been the only spare article of clothing in Caulfield. The last time Michael had unbuttoned him from a uniform, it had been the end of everything or the start of everything, depending on how he looked at it.

Alex wondered which this was.

“You can yell at me,” he said, eyes fixed on Michael’s fingers on the buttons. “I deserve whatever you can dish out.”

Michael took the shirt off him with so much care that it didn’t even hurt his ribs. He saw Michael catalogue the bruising there and then fix on the handprint, still shimmering brightly. “Your friends are dumb,” he said. “I mean, they’re smart. But they’re dumb when it comes to you.”

Michael traced the bits of unbruised skin he could find, like he was solving a maze. Alex drew in an unsteady breath.

“You’re a hero. Has anyone told you that yet?”

Alex shook his head weakly. He wasn’t.

“You saved us,” Michael said, fire in his voice. His confidence rang in Alex’s head. “And you saved yourself. He was your demon, so it was your choice how to slay him.”

“I got you hurt.”

“That was my choice and I’d make it again. Just like you’d make yours again.”

Alex could only stare, dumbfounded at being so known and still forgiven. Michael’s affection for him was burning brightly enough to be distracting.

“You said you deserve whatever I say,” Michael reminded. He walked around Alex in a slow, thoughtful circle. His warm fingers touched every place on his back that didn’t ache. “So thank you, Alex. For saving me.”

“You saved me right back,” Alex managed to say. “I needed you.”

“I know.” Michael pressed his lips against the nape of Alex’s neck. “Thank you for that too.”

It was all too much. He was on a lot of painkillers and they were surely the reason he was feeling like he was floating. “You were so angry with me.”

“Yeah, I was. Got over it.”

He circled back into Alex’s field of vision. For the first time, he looked nervous. His hands drifted lower on Alex’s waist than they ever had. He grazed the button of Alex’s jeans with his knuckles. “Can I?”

“It’s fine,” Alex said, his head still spinning. “If you’re fine.”

“I need to see everything he did to you.” Michael looked at him like he was daring Alex to make fun.

Alex reached out his unbroken hand and touched Michael’s unmarked chest. “From what Kyle said, he did it to you as well.”

“It fucking hurt,” Michael agreed.

Understatement of the year.

Then Michael’s fingers were on the front of his jeans and for the few seconds it took to unbutton and unzip him, Alex stopped thinking about anything else.

Michael helped him step out of the jeans before doing another careful circle. Alex should have felt exposed, but instead he felt seen. He’d never realized those two things were different.

Michael’s affection was deepening, strengthening, changing into something else. Something Alex was too afraid to name, even as he felt it inside himself as well.

Michael stopped in front of him. His eyes were wide. “Alex, I…”

Alex didn’t need him to say it. He took Michael’s hand and put it right over the handprint on his chest. That new emotion flooded through them, burning away the pain.

“Me too,” Alex said.

 

 

Michael stripped off his own shirt and took him to bed, the two of them pressed as closely together as Alex’s bruised body would allow. In hushed tones, Michael told him about his fight with Wyatt and the uncertain result. Alex knew how that particular story had ended, of course, but Michael didn’t ask and so he didn’t offer.

“Did you see Jesse before you left?” Michael wanted to know.

“No. I didn’t have anything else to say to him. I figured the leave my family alone was strongly implied by the impending court martial.”

“Fuck yes it was.”

There was pounding on their door. “Hey!” Liz said. “Are you guys ever coming out of there?”

Michael glared at the door and it locked itself. “I told you, I’ve got dibs.”

“That’s not fair! Maria and I had a good-cop bad-cop lecture all worked out. There were guilt trips!”

Alex tried to raise his voice so she could hear. “You can give it to me tomorrow.”

“Or never,” Michael added. “Now scram, I saw him first.”

“I’ve literally known him our entire lives,” Liz grumbled. She wasn’t actually mad, though. An angry Liz Ortecho did not simply grumble and then leave in peace. Alex turned his head to smile into Michael’s shoulder.

“We’ve been messing with the data we pulled from Caulfield,” Michael said.

“Anything interesting?”

“They talked about other facilities.”

Alex pulled back to look at him. “With more aliens?”

“We don’t know. Maybe.”

“Sounds like a road trip. With more guns this time.”

Michael gave him a relieved smile. “It does, doesn’t it?”

More knocking on the door. Kyle said, “You had better not be doing any strenuous activity in there, Alex. Those stitches are works of art.”

“Don’t worry, he’s not moving a muscle.”

Even Alex flushed at how absolutely filthy Michael’s tone was.

“Michael, I did not want to hear that,” Isobel called.

“Shouldn’t be listening at doors, Iz. He’s fine.” Michael fingered the edge of the handprint, sending sparks shivering through Alex’s spine. “Isn’t that right, Alex?”

“Fine,” Alex said steadily, shooting Michael a glare.

“I didn’t ask,” Isobel said.

“I did,” Kyle said.

Alex made eye contact with Michael and bit his bottom lip.

Michael’s eyes grew dark. “Okay cool, bye guys.”

And then he kissed Alex like he’d been starving for it. Alex certainly had been. He hadn’t thought he would get to do this again.

Another knock on the door. “Hey, do you guys want some leftover tacos?” Maria asked.

Michael groaned and broke the kiss. “DeLuca, I swear to god.”

“Sheesh, I was just asking.”

Alex felt a smile grow on his face, so big it should have hurt. It didn’t. “Tacos actually sound pretty good.”  

Michael bounced out of the bed. “I’ll get them. You stay right where you are.”

Alex never wanted to move from this spot. “Afterwards, we can plan our road trip.”

“Yeah,” Michael said, eyes bright. “We will.”

“They’re getting cold!” Liz shouted.

“Stop yelling!” Michael shouted back.

When he left, Alex could hear the chatter of voices beyond the door. Max and Isobel teasing Michael about his lack of a shirt, Liz and Kyle bickering over recipes, Maria pleading for order. Michael, fitting in perfectly, blending Alex’s old life and new life together like he’d been born to do it.

It sounded like the start of everything.

 

 

 

 

Notes:

This has been such a fun fandom experience. Thank you all for being so welcoming and positive! I've re-read your comments so many times and, like, cried over them.

You are all tacos of reconciliation and found-family love.