geeky_agent | (no subject)

Current Mood: anxious

(no subject)

March 27, 2006

It had been a long day by the time Chris reached Michelle's house. The night before she had barely slept and was beginning to forget what it was like to sleep for more than four or five hours a night.

She stalled at the bottom of the front steps, debating whether to stay or leave. I didn't call. It's not like they had been expecting me. After a long day at work, she barely the energy to go through with this.

But if she didn't do it now, then when?

With a sigh, Chris heads up the stairs and rings the door bell.

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"They probably are, I don't know. I'm at CTU-LA now," she says with a small shrug.

"You transferred?" She asks as they walk back into the bedroom. "Does Bill - does he know?"

"I was demoted."

She turns to look at Michelle. "Some things, yeah. Lots of the details are still classified. He knows about Tony."

It's hard to remember that not everyone knows why Chris vanished for a while.

"Bastards." She doesn't say that she's sorry, she knows how these things work.

She's glad they're near the bed so she can sit and not collapse. "He must be concerned," she says almost to herself and then looks up at Chris. "Have you seen Jack and Chase? How are they?" She's thought about them, wondering if they were okay and she knows that alive doesn't equal okay.

"Chase was really tired from the healing. He slept for .. a few days. I didn't get a chance to speak to him when he woke up." Chris sits down next to her, hands folded in her lap.

"Jack is ...he's doing better after the healing." She knows that's not what Michelle is asking but she's not sure what else to say.

No amount of healing can bring back the dead

She nods, "Is he lucid?"

"Yeah. He left the infirmary a couple days before I left." It had been hard leaving him and she was hoping that she didn't get stuck out here for long.

At least you will see him again.

"How is his mental state?" She'd told Tony that if they broke him, Jack wouldn't want to live.

I never thought I'd lose Tony this way, I thought we were safe, I thought we were out of the woods...

"I don't know," she confesses, her mouth pulling into a frown. "He wasn't talking about himself much. More about Chase and I. And you."

"At least he's talking." She glances over at her, "I've tried to blame him, to tell myself that Tony died," it's hard to get out the word, "because of his actions...but the truth is, Tony and I would have done anything for him. He only had to let us help."

She presses her lips together. "Watch him, Chris."

She twines her fingers together, still looking at Michelle as she speaks but she can't help feeling anxious at the words.

"I will."

Linda hangs up the phone, grimly pleased that the arrangements are all complete. Now, they just need a body.

It's been a while since Chris Chappelle went upstairs and she's heard some noise but hopefully she can get through to her daughter where Linda herself can't - even if she is part of the problem.

At the door, Linda knocks and pushes it open. She sees her daughter sitting in silence next to Chris.

"It's getting late. Are you staying for dinner?" She asks Chris.

Chris looks at Michelle, giving a small shrug of her shoulders. "Is that all right with you?"

She nods, "I'm not really hungry, but mom's been making food for days."

There's a ghost of a smile at that, she remembered her relatives sending her food and care packages after her parents died.

Chris turns back to Linda. "I'll stay."

Linda's smile in return's a bit forced, but if it makes her daughter eat, she'll accept it.

"Good. Chelle, dear, I got through to your father. He and Amy are still in Europe but he'll be back in time for the funeral." She says Amy like she's a form of bacteria. "Dinner will be ready in ten minutes."

Her dad and Amy had gone on a backpacking trip across Europe, chosing now because they weren't getting any younger. Amy had gushed that they weren't even bringing cell phones.

"Thanks mom," Michelle says and then her mom leaves to finish dinner.

She looks back over at Chris, "You don't have to stay."

"I want to." That was the truth. She hadn't seen her friend in a long time and she missed her. Any uneasy was more her fault than Michelle's and she wouldn't feel right not staying when she didn't have anywhere else to be.

"I'm glad you're here," she says and means it, looking up at her bruised face.

She smiles at this, those words almost dispelling her earlier anxiety. "I wish there was more I could do."

"So do I," she whispers, not smiling in return, but her tears have stopped. They sit in silence for a few more moments and then Michelle's mom yells up that dinner's ready.

For the first time in days, Michelle leaves her room, reluctantly accepting Chris's help.

We all need somebody to lean on.

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