Starring:
Date: November 10, 2009
Summary:
Charlotte tries to soothe a rather grumpy Micah.
"Teenage Angst"
German Orphanage: Cam and Micah's Room
Micah and Cam's room is quiet, yet the lights flicker on and off every few seconds. It would seem that Micah has his ability back. Micah would be relieved if he wasn't still fuming. Oh the beast that is grief! He could be on his laptop (which is still safely tucked under his bed since the incident with Emily) Rebelling, but instead he lays on top of the bed face-up, staring at the ceiling, and turning on and off the lights with just a thought. He'd agreed to "behave". So he's doing nothing. He's not helping Tracy, trying to find Monica, or coordinating everyone.
Charlotte knows that children need their privacy. Or, she thinks that, right? The poor woman doesn't have much back bone, so situations like this do not speak to her strong points. But she knocks before poking her head in, seeing the lights flicker. "Micah. I brought you something to eat." She's at least pulled her hair back, is wearing sweats, but she still looks rather pale and sickly, and her hand is still bandaged. "And some orange juice, I thought the vitamins might help you feel a little bit better."
The lights keep flickering when Charlotte walks in, but they stay on once she speaks. Micah swallows as Charlotte speaks, his lips, throat and mouth extremely dry. "I'm not hungry," he mutters in a croaked tone. He's not actually mad at her. He's just mad. So he adds for good measure, "But thanks."
The lines in Charlotte's face - yes, there are lines - go a bit deeper as she frowns, but she walks in anyway, moving to bring the glass tray - wooden, made with inlaid butterfly wings to form a beautiful scene - on the desk near Micah's bed. There is a beef stew with a few rinds of bread and orange juice. But she's not done yet. Instead, she turns back, moving to Micah's bed. She perches on the edge, leaning over to push his hair back gently from his forehead with her undamaged fingers. "Do you need me to call a doctor?"
"I'm fine," Micah mutters as he turns to face the wall. "I'm not sick." He's just mad, upset, frustrated, and slightly traumatized. "I'm not hurt. I'm not … anything." The lights flicker again a couple of times for good measure. "And my ability works again. There's nothing wrong with me." He frowns to the wall.
Charlotte knows she's not a shrink. She's not even that smart. She's fairly dumb and uneducated as people go. She'll never be able to help Micah with his homework, at least. "But you need to talk to me, Micah. Please. I was there, I was taken too once. It was horrible, I was scared for myself and for everyone." Of course, she found him playing video games, so…"
"Mom and dad died!" This is probably not what Charlotte was expecting to hear. "I thought… I thought… maybe Tracy… but no… she's not… she's not like…" He tightens his jaw angrily and clams up again for a good thirty seconds before adding, "There was no funeral. There was no long goodbye, no evidence that they were dead. No bodies to prove they are dead. They are just gone. GONE." He sighs. There's of course more than this. So much more to say, but he clams up again.
No, it wasn't what Charlotte was expecting. At least, not right now. But there always had to be that sentiment lingering somewhere, and if it finally comes out here, so be it. "Oh, Micah…" She sighs, reaching to pull the boy up into her arms. "You said it yourself, no one can replace your parents. No one will ever be D.L. or Niki, not ever. Not me, not Tracy, no one. None of us could ever measure up to such good people." She'll pet him too, if he allows, and rock him a little. "Would you like to set them up a place? A memorial area? Someplace you can always go if you want to be close to them?"
"But it wouldn't be them!" Micah exasperates as he closes his eyes. "Where did they go?! Are they just in some rubble somewhere? I just thought… Dad he can like let things go through him… I thought that maybe…" He shuts up again and tightly closes his eyes before adding, "… maybe they were on a train somewhere. They weren't in the files, but I hoped." He swallows, "Molly couldn't find Mom when she was at Pinehearst because of this bad guy… I thought… maybe…" Promptly he buries his face in his hands.
Does Charlotte have the heart to tell him that his mother's really dead? "There's a place," she murmurs softly, to the boy, stroking his hair. "Where I took your mother when I first met her, before she regained her memories. It was a tropical island - and she said it was the most peaceful, beuatiful place she'd ever been. It's where she got her shell." she reaches over to touch his necklace. "And…I've thought…" She's dreamed. "That's where your parents are now. If there's a heavan, that's what it would be like. And they'd be ther,e and they'd be watching, and they'd be so, so proud."
Micah sighs. "They're really gone, aren't they? Like really gone?" His lips pout slightly. There are no tears, just a sort of embittered angry acceptance. "I wanted to be who they were. I wanted to help people. Take down injustice. Like they did, but it's not easy." His entire body stiffens slightly, "I saw things… people got shot… people died… Peter got hit by a helicopter… a baddie got manipulated by a Company agent into behaving…" He pauses before whispering, "Doing what's right is never easy."
Charlotte continues to rock the boy against her. "No, it's not. But you have to understand that your parents didn't try to save the world. They saved the world just while trying to save you. They wanted you to be safe and happy. And…I'm going to help with that. You may not like the way I do it, or that I'll need you to listen to what I say sometimes, but I'm trying to do what Niki would do, and that is protect you at all costs. But I need your help on this, Micah. If you….lie to me, and run away, and…organize giant rebellions without ever telling me, it makes it very hard for me to help you. And that's all I want in this entire world is to see you and Cam safe and happy." She closes her eyes, wiping away a few tears. "This isn't to say that we can't help other people." We. Not just him. "But there are a lot of people here, each other included, who need our help too. And we can't help anyone if we can't help ourselves."
"I thought you would make me stop," Micah admits in sputters. "But before you found me I was already in over my head… I'd already texted Matt and knew about Molly getting released and about Matt Parkman Junior and the train full of people. When the men in black came after us I did research. I knew the plans of the Alpha Protocol and that I had to do something. So I did what I could. My ability… it lets me access things. It wasn't hard after that. And I knew I was getting in over my head, but I couldn't stop. Like other people would get hurt if I did."
Charlotte shakes her head. "No, I won't make you stop. But I will make you slow down, and I will need you talk to me about what you're doing and why. I know I'm not your mother, but I'd very much like it if you'd let me help take care of you. Like I said, we all need to take care of each other." She kisses the boy's head again, crying still. Big ol tears roll down her cheeks. "I know you can't tell me everything. You're a teenager, you're supposed to have secrets. But I need you to set that aside for now. People have died, and been kidnapped. I need to know where you are and what you're doing always in regards to all of this, so I can watch out for you. And you can watch out for me. Do you understand?"
"I guess… we just need to keep coordinating. No one else can do it as easily. Well maybe not no one, but no one I know." Micah sits up on his bed, and clears his throat. "And I can tell you stuff… most stuff…" He pauses before he smirks a bit, "I still have secrets, but I'll tell you this stuff." His cheeks flush involuntarily and his palms feel moist as he reflects on his assumed 'secrets'. On an unrelated note, "Is Molly okay? We couldn't find her before you and Emily came back…"
Charlotte nods, smiling a dimpled, sad smile. "She's fine. I'd actually brought her to visit Matt when Emily took me." She frowns, realizing that Micah doesn't know about that. "There's something else. Emily's gone, and…you can't contact her again. I know you liked her, but she's very dangerous. Getting caught would have been the least of our concerns - I think she'd not have hesitated to kill us all. And…not for any reason." Charlotte looks away, shaking her head. She can't understand serial killers, she really can't. "Please promise me you won't try and contact her."
"Good, I'm glad Molly's okay. Ivory let her go once… I don't know if he could manage it again…" Micah's cheeks continue to flush until he nods a bit about Emily with a sigh, "Fine. I won't try to find her. I don't think she would've hurt us… I think… I think she was scared like everyone else…"
Charlotte nods. "She was scared. I'm sure she still is. But…she's killed a lot of people, Micah. Dozens, maybe more. And not for money, or for defense, or anything like that. She just finds it fun. Were she to wake up one morning and be feeling bored and find you there, or Frauline Beeches, or Molly…" Charlotte shakes her head, giving Micah another smile. "But thank you for promising me that." She pulls him again in a tight, stiffling hug.
Just then, the door is pushed open, and one of the older kids come in. "Charlotta," the African boy says. "Frauline Beeches says I must do this. Please come." He tugs on Charlotte's hand. "You too, Might-Ka." He says, trying to pull them both into the next room.
"I saw the footage," Micah concedes. "Mom got a lot of second chances… I just think other people deserve them too. But I won't contact her." Furrowing his eyebrows, Micah sits up and follows the African boy into the other room, completely puzzled.
Charlotte, entirely at a loss, takes Micah's hand to lead him. Into the next room the three go, where a small group has gathered to see Ivory speaking on the television, almost weeping over the loss of Micah and Cam. Speaking of Micah, Charlotte's hand digs into his smaller one as she watches, clearly becoming very uncomfortable at the spectacle. No one speaks.
Eyes widen a bit at the spectacle, but Micah says nothing for a few minutes before glancing at Charlotte and then back at the television. "He's just… worried," Micah insists, "He's our friend. We call him Ivory, not Senator Wynn… he got us off of the metal tables and was trying to find a way to get us released… and he helped Molly!"
Charlotte nods as she listens, looking down to Micah. Alright, she'll take it that way then. She'll believe him. "I'll go and talk to him this evening, when he's likely to be at home alone." Oh, how very much she does not know Senator Wynn, thinking the man would spend his nights alone. "We'll get it worked out, trust me. And if you trust him, I trust him."
"I trust him completely!" Micah says earnestly. "Seriously, he was looking out for us and he doesn't want all of us imprisoned… just the ones that hurt people." Of course, how Wynn makes this decision is unknown to Micah, but he trusts Ivory quite blindly.
Charlotte nods, patting Micah again to reassure him. "Tonight, I promise, alright? Don't worry, everything's going to be fine. I'll talk to him myself. I will." She gives the boy another kiss on the head. "But for right now I need you to stay here and rest, alright? Rest and relax and…I don't know. Go outside and play. Get a comic book. Whatever you want that's entirely teenage-related."
Micah smiles at Charlotte with a nod, "Alright. Just make sure he knows that we're still his friends and our leaving had nothing to do with him." He glances around the room and nods about the rest thing, "I think… I think I'm gonna go find Molly…" His cheeks flush again as he pads out of the room in search of Molly.
Charlotte nods, a smile returning to her features. "Good, go and find Molly. I'll talk to the Senator, and everything will be fine." She gives him one more peck on the hair and then sends him off to go and find his little girlfriend.