Disclaimer: God, if ONLY they were mine! My wonderful Candies!
Summary: Missing Scene from "Departure." What happened in Michael and Maria's final hour together, from Michael's POV.
Rating: soft NC-17 (I know, "Gasp! No BDSM?" LOL!)
Spoilers: MASSIVE, ENORMOUS spoilers for "Departure," the second season finale.
Feedback: The nice kind is always the best. :)
Distribution: Yours for the taking!
Notes: I think it's safe to say that, overall, "Departure" has surpassed even "Destiny" to become my favorite episode of all time. Not only because of the sweet Candiness, but simply because I felt EVERYONE was wonderful in it, and all the actors really showcased their skill. Since I know that plenty of other authors will set their considerable talents to writing the missing "Candy nookie" scene that took place after the cameras panned away to the candles and food, I decided to leave that be and set myself to writing the tale of Michael and Maria's "last" hour. I hope you enjoy!
Dedication: To Jen, because she died at least three times when I told her I'd write this story. I hope you like it, chica!
Muse-ic: Capercaillie
*********
"And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?"
-W.B Yeats
"The Second Coming"
*********
3:11 AM
"How much time do we have?"
"About an hour."
*********
3:12 AM
Michael watched Maria shake her head in tired disbelief, then felt her supple form shift as she moved closer to him. He raised his arm, so she could brush him, skin to skin. She cuddled up along his side, so he could feel her slim, perfect body against him. An hour would never be long enough for each molecule to find and make love to its mate, though every atom asked for just. One. Chance.
"This isn't happening," she murmured quietly, as he closed his eyes and held her close, feeling her silky blonde hair beneath his palms. "Not this soon."
"I know," he replied softly. "But it is."
The warm wetness on his shoulder was the only indication Michael had that she was crying. She made no noise, and her shoulders didn't shake. His eyebrows furrowed and he raised a hand to delicately cup her cheek, wincing as he felt more tears fill the lines of his all too human palm. "Shhhh," he whispered. "Don't cry."
"I have to," she said weakly.
"Why?"
"Because if I don't, I'll start to think this is all just a dream. That when I wake up in the morning, you'll still be here."
Maria raised her head then, and Michael found himself confronted with those familiar liquid green eyes, made darker and deeper by their proximity to ultimate loss. "You won't be, will you," she murmured; not so much a question as a statement. "You'll be gone."
It took all his strength, and detailed instructions from his brain to his neck, to make him nod. Tilt chin down, keep eye contact, bring chin up again, stay still.
*********
3:16 AM
She did something strange then; something completely unexpected.
She smiled.
It was shaky, and didn't even try to reach her eyes, but it was a smile nonetheless. And it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen her do.
"I'll miss your hair," she whispered hoarsely, reaching up to run her fingers through his tousled locks.
Michael couldn't help but smile at that. "My hair?" he asked, letting her touch him.
Maria nodded. "Yeah. The way it seemed to change week to week. I always wondered what new creation you'd whip up with your gel and mousse."
He chuckled, and reached up to trail his fingers through her long, blonde curls. "I'll miss your hair, too. And your lips."
Maria laughed a little. "Horny boy," she said, smiling at him.
Michael grinned and shook his head. "For more reasons than just that." He ran his fingers up her back and around to touch her lips delicately. "I'll miss how perfect they are. Their shape," he traced the outline of her mouth with a tender fingertip, "and their softness."
She closed her eyes as he slid his finger along the dip where her lips met.
"I'll miss how firm they could be," Michael continued softly. "Unshy." He smiled. "Your mouth was never shy, Maria."
She blushed a little, smiling, and opened her mouth so he could slip his finger between her lips. She closed her mouth around him and sucked gently for a few seconds, as he watched with soft eyes. When she finally let him go, he sighed, and furrowed his fingers in her hair.
*********
3:22 AM
"I'll miss the scar over your eyebrow," she murmured, opening her eyes and finding his gaze immediately. "Because I never got to ask you what caused it, and I always meant to."
"You can ask me now," he whispered, running his thumb over her cheekbone.
Maria shook her head. "No, I don't want to anymore," she told him. "Because that's another thing I'll miss. Unlocking your mysteries." She reached up to pull his fingers from her hair and rest her cheek in his palm. "You have so many, Michael. Every time I think I've discovered them all, solved them all...you throw a new one at me, which opens a whole other door to a room filled with even more."
Something like lye was burning in his throat, and he swallowed to try and ease the ache. "Sounds like you," he replied hoarsely.
Maria blushed again; he felt the heat against his palm. "You know all my mysteries," she said softly.
Michael shook his head minutely. "Not a chance," he whispered.
*********
3:27 AM
She sighed and rested her free cheek on his chest again, keeping his hand pressed to the other side of her face.
"Michael?"
He closed his eyes, remembering through sensory memory how her tight nipples had felt pressing into his chest earlier that night. "Mm?" he replied.
"What will you miss the most about Earth?"
"You." Without hesitation; without the need for thought.
"There must be something else you'll miss."
"Sure, but nothing like I'll miss you."
There was a short pause.
Then, "What about me will you miss?"
Michael smiled and opened his eyes again, gazing down at the top of her head. "Do you want a list?"
She nodded.
He stroked her hair. "I'll miss watching you at the Crashdown. Especially when you'd get annoyed with customers, and your eyes would start flashing, even though you kept smiling. And they'd just keep talking and talking, and I could see you getting more and more angry, so that the tips of your ears started to turn red."
Maria laughed a little and punched him in the side gently. "Ooh, they do not!"
"Yes they do!" He chuckled and held her tighter. "And then there's the skirt..." He sighed dreamily. "I love that skirt on you."
He felt her blush against his chest, and it made him grin.
*********
3:33 AM
"What else?" she asked, snuggling closer, though it didn't seem possible she could get any nearer.
"Your laugh," he replied. "Like that time Kyle fell off the side of the bleachers, then jumped up like one of those clowns you punch and they just stand right up again? God, you were laughing at that for the rest of the day, remember? I don't think even Kyle thought it was that funny."
Maria giggled. "It was the mood I was in."
Michael nodded. "I know. And I loved every second of it. I wanted to make you laugh like that. That night, I dreamt up so many different ways to make you laugh..." He trailed off, hoping she wouldn't notice the sudden wistful tone of his voice. //And I never got to try any of them,// he thought silently. //Not even one.//
"You never had to make me laugh, Michael," she murmured, and he could tell from the tone of her voice that she'd noticed his silence. "Just being there was enough."
"But I wanted to," he murmured.
"You did."
"Not enough."
"If I told you that one laugh from something you said was worth more to me than a hundred laughs from anybody else, would that make you feel better?"
"Maybe a little."
"Then there, I said it."
Michael chuckled. "Smooth talker."
*********
3:38 AM
Maria rested her chin on his shoulder and looked up into his eyes. Her tears had dried, but the darkness hadn't lightened any.
"Do you really have to leave?" she whispered, and the edge of hope in her voice almost tore Michael to shreds.
"I...yeah," he replied, then cleared his throat to make his voice louder. It didn't work. "The...the granilith is a one shot deal. Once it's used... That's the end of it. There's no other way ho... back to our planet."
Maria closed her eyes and said nothing.
"Maria?" he murmured quietly.
No answer.
"Maria?" A little louder this time, as if to wake her from a trance.
"Can I go with you?"
She said it so quietly, he almost didn't understand her. But she opened her eyes and found his gaze at the same time as she spoke, and that was all he needed to know what she was thinking.
He swallowed, and slowly shook his head.
Her face crumpled. "Why not?"
Dammit, he'd hurt her. "Maria, this planet we're going to... we don't know anything about it. I don't know if you could live there. What if it's atmosphere killed you like Earth's is killing Max's kid? I...Maria, I couldn't let that happen. I wouldn't even RISK it. Not with you." He held her face between his hands. "I love you too much."
Maria shook his hands off and got up onto her knees to look down at him, hurt and angry. "Then how do you know it'll support YOU?" she asked, voice desperate. "Michael, you've got human in you, too. What if this place kills YOU?"
His eyes swept over the perfect contours of her naked body, and for a moment, he couldn't answer. The swell of adolescent hips, still womanly despite their youth, and the flat, soft expanse of her belly were making him forget for a moment that he had ANY alien in him. If he could have snapped his fingers and made himself human in that instant, he would have done it.
Michael held up his arms to her. "Come here," he murmured.
She shook her head firmly. "No."
He sat up, and wrapped an arm around her waist. Resting his chin on her shoulder, he said quietly, "Maria..."
She stiffened a little in his embrace, but her muscles quickly loosened, and she seemed to melt into him, twining her own arms around his body and holding him tightly.
*********
3:43 AM
"I'll miss THIS," he whispered, rubbing her back.
"God, me too," she whispered in return, holding him tighter.
"I'll miss how warm you are," he continued, and kissed her shoulder. "How everywhere I'm hard, you're soft."
"Michael," Maria whimpered, tilting her head to the side so he could reach her neck. He accepted the invitation and moved in to suck gently on her pulse point, making her moan.
"I'll miss...how I cover you like a blanket," he mumbled between kisses, as he moved up the column of her throat to her jaw. "How...you fit so perfectly....beneath me..."
He tilted her to the side and down, rolling them a little so she was on her back beneath him. Maria went willingly, her fingers kneading the muscles along his spine, and Michael groaned as she eased his growing tension.
"Michael."
He found her eyes, and was surprised at how calm she looked, while he was growing more and more frantic with need for her. "Yeah?" he panted quietly, positioning himself more comfortably above her, so he was resting between her legs. The slight quivering of her thighs and the warm, musky scent of her desire were the only signs of her arousal.
"Let me see you again."
He paused then, gazing into her eyes.
She reached up to stroke his cheek. "Give me that much of you to hold on to," she whispered. "If I can't have the body, at least let me keep some of the spirit."
He didn't know what to do. Before, when she'd clutched his hands, he'd been able to feed her those memories he felt she could handle. But now, here, when he'd be lost in her body, drowning in her precious moist heat... What if she saw things about him she hated? What if she saw things unforgiveable, or worse yet, things pitiful?
Her fingers grazing his lips broke Michael from his reverie, and he saw her smiling up at him.
"Do you trust me?" she murmured, as her free hand stole between their bodies to wrap gently around his hard length, making him gasp. She lifted her hips, so his tip brushed her moist cleft, and he moaned.
"Yes," he whispered hoarsely. "Yes, Maria."
She found his lips and kissed him tenderly, as she moved her other hand down his back to push his hips forward, until he slowly entered her waiting sheath.
"G..God," he sputtered against her lips as she gasped beneath him.
"Please, Michael," she moaned. "Please...."
With a wordless cry, Michael nodded, simultaneously pushing his hips forward until he was buried deep within her warm body.
Maria's back arched, and her throat corded. "Michael!" she cried, her fingernails digging into his back. "Oh....GOD!"
"M...Maria," he gasped against her throat, before pushing himself up on his arms and looking down into her ethereal face. "Maria..."
Her eyes opened, and they held that same look of wonder and awe that they'd possessed earlier that night, when he'd first slid into her warm depths. Slowly, shakily, she nodded.
Michael groaned and leaned down to kiss her as he pulled his hips back, then stroked forward again.
*********
3:50 AM
*FLASH*
//Trapped in a closet, empty wire hangars above him. Pounding on the door, begging to be released.//
"Miiiichael..." Maria moaned.
*FLASH*
//Peering into the backroom of the Crashdown as she got off duty. Grinning at the flash of skin he can see in the mirror as she changes from her uniform to her favorite pair of jeans//
Another stroke of his hips, and Michael gritted his teeth as Maria wrapped her legs around his waist, driving him deeper.
*FLASH*
//Presents at Christmas. Only two, signed, "From Isabel" and "Your buddy Max."//
*FLASH*
//The closet again, but no pounding now. He sits quietly, accepting, slightly longer legs crumpled up so he can fit more comfortably.//
Michael heard her whimper, and forced his eyes to open. "Oh....baby," he moaned as he saw the tears on her cheeks. "Maria..."
"D...Don't stop," she begged softly, and when her eyes opened, he saw they were brimming with even more tears. "These...these are YOU." She cried out as the next thrust of his hips rubbed over her g-spot, and Michael winced as her hips slammed up into his. "YES!"
He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He wanted to stop giving her his memories, but the flow was a torrent. It couldn't be dammed back.
Burying his face in her throat, he sucked on her pulse point again, feeling the blood pounding through her veins beneath his lips.
Thrust.
*FLASH*
//A dark alley. Two girls in front of him: a dark one, and a green one. The green one intrigues him, and scares him to death.//
Thrust.
*FLASH*
//He's cut himself on a piece of paper, but doesn't know how to heal. He watches the blood well, a little fascinated by how human circulation works, even in an alien boy.//
Thrust!
*FLASH*
//Dressed like an angel, down to the halo, she leads him to the dance floor and smiles up at him.//
THRUST!
"YES! MICHAEL! I LOVE YOU!"
*FLASH*
//Soft green eyes gazing at him from her side of the couch, full of gratitude. He tries to speak, and she stops him, leaning in to kiss his tear-salted lips with her warm, glossy ones. Slowly, slowly, she tilts him back...//
He felt her freeze beneath him, her fingers digging into the tense muscles of his back. "Oh...Oh, God..." she gasped, nodding quickly for no apparent reason. "Oh, God, Michael...."
Michael managed a smile. "I love you," he whispered hoarsely, and she nodded more.
"L....Love!" she gasped.
With a delicacy he wouldn't have believed himself capable of in this situation, he leaned down to kiss her again, molding his lips to hers, as he pushed into her one final time.
*FLASH*
//Naked above him, back arched and body poised as if ready for flight, he watches her orgasm, and lets her take him over the edge with her.//
"Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiichael!" Maria cried, before her body convulsed beneath him, tight as a live wire as she climaxed.
"Gaaahhhh," Michael groaned as her sheath tightened around him. "Maria!" His body shuddered, then he felt himself release explosively inside her.
And the demon red numbers of his alarm clock changed the hour.
*********
4:00 AM
They lay tangled together, unmoving and unspeaking, for a minute that could easily have stretched for an eternity, if eternity had been allowed them. But all too quickly, it drew to a close, and Michael waited for the phone to ring, as he knew it would.
And it did.
Maria moaned and pressed her face into his chest as he fumbled on the side table for the phone and brought it to his ear. "Hello?" he said softly, not sure why he phrased it as a question. He already knew who it was.
"Are you ready?" Max asked on the other end of the line.
Michael shook his head, even though the other young man couldn't see him. "Not yet. I will be."
"We're meeting near the overpass on 285 at 4:30."
"Yeah, I know. I'll be there."
There was silence for a moment, then Max asked, "Is Maria there?"
A plethora of options ran through Michael's head in that moment; more than he could ever hope to tally.
"No," he finally said. "No, I don't know where she is."
He could picture Max nodding on the other end of the line. "Okay. 4:30 then."
"Yeah. See you then."
"Bye."
Michael didn't bother with a bye of his own. He just hung up the phone and turned back into his embrace with Maria.
"That was Max, wasn't it?" she mumbled, wrapping her arms snugly around his middle.
Michael nodded. "Yeah."
"You have to leave now, don't you?"
"I...yeah, I do."
She sighed.
"You...can stay," he stAMmered. "As long as you want."
She didn't say anything, but held him tighter.
"I'd offer you a ride," she said after a few seconds. "But I don't think I could do that. Not for this."
"I wouldn't ask you to," he murmured, stroking her back. "I'll take my bike."
Maria shivered and moved closer into his embrace. "I don't want to let you go," she said quietly.
He shook his head and kissed her hair. "I don't want to be LET go," he replied.
A few more seconds passed.
"Be sure to wear your helmet," Maria murmured eventually. "And don't go over the speed limit. It's...it's dark out there; you'd blend easily."
He nodded. "I know. I'll be careful."
"And dress warm. It might be cold on...you know, on your planet. Or maybe you should dress cool, in case it's hot. Does Tess know? Did she tell you? It's a pretty stupid plan, if you don't even know what temperature it's going to be-"
"Shhhhh," he whispered, laying a finger over her perfect lips. She stopped talking. "Just stay here?" He started to move away from her.
"Nooo," she moaned, trying to hold him tighter.
"I have to, Maria," he murmured, and kissed her earlobe, smiling a little that she'd worn the earrings he'd given her for Christmas. "You know I have to."
She whimpered, and nodded, but her arms didn't loosen. She wasn't going to make it easy on him.
Sighing, he managed to work his way free of her embrace; it took twice as long as it should have, because he didn't want to go anyway. Standing up, he went to the other side of the room and crouched down to pick up their clothes.
Turning around again, clothes in hand, he saw her watching him, and managed a smile. "Here," he said gently, walking back to the bed and laying her dress, bra and panties on the blankets over her. "For when you want to get up."
"I don't ever want to get up."
"Don't say that."
"It's the truth."
He pulled on his boxer shorts, "You WILL get up, and do you want to know why?"
She shook her head as he tugged on his jeans and zipped up the fly.
"Tough. I'm gonna tell you anyway." He sat on the edge of the bed and cupped her cheek, brushing her hair back from her face.
"Because you're a Deluca," he said tenderly. "You're MARIA Deluca. And Maria Deluca never just gives up because things don't look good. That's when Maria Deluca shines her brightest."
Tears stood out in her eyes again, and he leaned down to kiss them away. "Shhh, don't cry, Maria," he whispered against the side of her nose. "Don't let that be my last memory of you. Please."
He heard her swallow. "Sit up," she murmured, and he did. She sat up as well, the blankets pooling around her waist. "Give me your T-shirt."
Michael handed her the garment, and she shook it out, as if taking it fresh from the laundry basket. "Can't have you going home all wrinkled, right?" she asked, smoothing it out on her lap. "There. Arms up."
He smiled and raised his arms obediently, so Maria could slip the T-shirt onto his body. He closed his eyes and sighed as her small hands smoothed the cotton down his sides.
"Now the other one," she said softly, and he handed her his other shirt, eyes still closed. He felt her tug it up his arms, and pull it together across his chest. Opening his eyes, he looked down as she fastened each button, one by one.
"Perfect," she whispered, straightening the shirt on his shoulders.
He took her hands and looked into her eyes. "Yes," he replied. "Perfect."
Maria gazed at him for a moment, then murmured, "I AM so proud of you."
Michael felt himself blush. "Thank you."
With a deep sigh, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "I love you," she whispered.
And though he'd already told her three times in his life-- more than he'd ever have believed he would say it-- he murmured, "I love you," back in response.
Then it was just a matter of pulling on socks and shoes, debating a jacket and deciding against one, and walking to the bedroom door. He looked back at her before he walked out, and their eyes met.
"Don't forget me?" she whispered, knees pulled up to her chin.
"Never," he replied.
She smiled and touched her temple. "Ditto."
Michael held out a hand to her, and Maria did likewise. The air between them was too much, but he could feel her fingers anyway.
"Goodbye," she said softly.
He didn't want to say it. He wanted to say farewell, or I'll see you later, or anything but goodbye. Goodbye was so...final.
"Goodbye," he whispered.
Before the hot lump in his throat exploded like Vesuvius, he ducked out of the room, heading for his front door and praying that he could make it before the sobs from the bedroom reached his ears.
He didn't.
*********
4:11 AM
Fumbling with the doorknob, he heard the first soft whimper, and winced as it grew in intensity. As he swung open the door, he could hear her already sobbing, and all he wanted to do was run back to her and promise that he'd never really leave. That he'd always stay with her, and screw the home planet. What did it know about being a home? It had killed him once, and thrown him away. Maria would never do that to him.
Maria had saved him.
It was the Soldier who made him take that first step onto the deck, and the Soldier who locked the door behind him, in one final act of protection for his lover. Only the Soldier could have had enough mettle to make his way down the stairs, towards a distant planet that claimed to be home. Only the Soldier could have forced himself not to look up at the bedroom window, where he knew his lover stood, tears on her lashes, watching him straddle his motorcycle as if it were any other day. Only the Soldier could have actually turned the key.
As he roared away from the apartment building, Michael didn't have to look at the clock to know what time it was. It was 4:15, and he would be late to the overpass. He didn't care; the "home planet" had waited over fifty years for him-- it could wait another four minutes before it sucked him back again.
Maybe Maria was right. Maybe when he got there, the atmosphere would kill him.
He hoped it would.
THE END