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Monday,
14 February 2000 At school, Liz is waxing rhapsodic about her kiss with Max. Maria gives her a "grief relief" herbal remedy that "shocks the body into reality when the mind goes into overload". Max approaches Liz but Isabel interrupts, says that Michael went into the restroom purposely to avoid her and she wants Max to go see what is wrong. In the restroom, Michael, avoiding Max, goes into a stall and tells Max to leave him alone. Max pretends to leave and when Michael comes out of the stall, Max sees he has a black eye. At the railroad tracks, Michael explains that Hank was drunk. It's not the first time but it never left a mark before. He asks Max to heal it because he wasn't able to. He tells Max he doesn't want anyone else to know. At the Crashdown, Maria compares the charms of Max and Michael to a drug and tells Liz they "have to just say no". Amy comes in with pies for the Crashdown. Sheriff Valenti flirts with her and convinces her to bake him a pie for this evening. Max tells Isabel about Michael's abusive situation but tells her not to let Michael know he told her. Michael comes in and sits with them, senses immediately that Isabel knows, gets angry and leaves. They follow him. Isabel mentions that her father, a lawyer, once helped a minor get permission to live on his own. Michael says getting the courts involved will bring them too much attention. She suggests he use his powers. He reminds her he doesn't have control over his powers and he is afraid. If he tries, he will kill him. She convinces him to stay with them until Hank calms down. Later, at dinner that evening, the atmosphere is tense. Michael's table manners are not the best and when Phillip and Diane quiz Michael about Hank, Isabel keeps fielding the questions, prompting Phillip to tell Isabel to let Michael speak for himself. Michael has nothing to say. Maria and Liz, coming in through the kitchen, see the remains of a pie for two, the sheriff's hat and hear giggling from the living room. They panic, then Maria calls out to her mom that she is home. Amy comes out to the kitchen, obviously flustered. Maria is shocked and asks her mother if she will be going to bed "alone" soon. Valenti comes out to the kitchen with lipstick on his cheek and his shirttail out. The Evans family and Michael are playing Monopoly. It's not going well for Michael and he doesn't understand why Phillip won't bend the rules for him since it's just a game. Phillip says "In this house, we play by the rules". Michael quits the game and leaves. Isabel goes after him and tries to convince him to speak up and tell her father the truth. Michael says he doesn't want to be a poster child for domestic abuse. She tells him he has to do something, he can't just pretend it didn't happen. Michael leaves and Max comes out and tells Isabel to stop pushing Michael. That one evening can't make up for what he hasn't had in a lifetime. Isabel says she knows, she's just really scared for him. Amy comes to Maria's room and says she needs her space. "I can't feel like you're judging me all the time". Maria tells her she doesn't trust Valenti. Amy reminds her there are very few eligible men in the area and Jim is a nice guy, with a good job and he is fun. Maria says he is the type that has to be tough all the time, can't open up, show emotions or admit that he needs you and those are the most dangerous ones. Amy tells her not to worry, "Michael will come around". Maria denies she was referring to Michael, she meant hypothetically. Maria says "Just take it slow, once they get physical, once they get what they want, they disappear". Worried, Amy asks if she's speaking from experience and Maria says "Just yours". Michael goes back to his trailer home and gets into a shouting match with Hank over laundry. Isabel and Max come in when they hear the yelling. Hank starts leering and makes a pass at Isabel. He offers her a drink. She throws the drink in his face and screams at him "If you ever hurt Michael again, I will kill you". Hank says "I don't think so", grabs his rifle and points it at the three of them. Michael uses his powers to stop him, but they are erratic, so other things go flying across the room before he is finally able to point the rifle away from them. It goes off, Hank drops it in fright, calls Michael a freak and stares at him in terror. Max, Isabel and Michael leave. Outside, Michael tells Isabel she made it worse, now Hank knows. Isabel says he was too drunk to remember anything. Michael says now he can't go back, it wasn't much but it was all he had. Max tells him to come back with them and Michael points out that would only be a temporary solution and he doesn't belong there, he doesn't belong anywhere. Isabel says "Would it kill you to ask for help just once in your life?" Michael says "Yeah, you know what, it would" and takes off. Maria is sitting, looking out her bedroom window at the rain when she notices Michael standing there, looking very forlorn. She takes her "grief relief" and puts a few drops on her tongue, then takes the bottle and gulps it down. She looks out the window again and says "What are you doing out there?" He steps forward and she says "No, you can't come in, no. I know why you're here, I know what your plan is, I know what you want but it's not going to work, mister, OK. No matter what you say. My answer is no. No, No, No, No, No!" He looks at her pleadingly. Maria is drying Michael's hair with a towel in her bedroom. She says "God, you could get pneumonia. Here, take your shirt off, you're shivering". As she continues to dry him off with the towel, she notices his face is wet, not just from the rain, but from tears and gently wipes one away. He is trembling from the effort to hold them back. She leads him over to her bed and he lies down. She gets on the bed and caresses him from behind, stroking him and softly saying "Shhh, it's OK. You don't have to tell me, it's OK". He continues to try but fails to hold back the tears. Tuesday, 15 February 2000 Amy comes to get Maria and finds them sleeping peacefully, with Maria lying across Michael's back. She screams "Oh my God!", throws Michael out and orders Maria to the kitchen. Maria tells her nothing happened, they just slept. Amy is sceptical. Maria reassures her, saying that Michael was very upset and sex was the last thing on his mind. Amy tells her she still shouldn't have let him stay over, that she doesn't want Maria to make the same mistakes she did, she wants a better life for her than she had. In class, Michael is picked up by a deputy and taken to the station. Valenti tells him the neighbours heard an argument and gunshots, that Hank never showed up for work and that Michael was the last to see him. He then adds that the neighbours later heard "more sounds, screaming, crying, tortured sounds like an animal, almost inhuman". Valenti asks Michael "Where were you, son?" Michael says "Out". At the Crashdown, Isabel comes in and asks Liz and Maria if they have seen Michael. She tells them about Hank's abuse and that she is really worried about him. Maria tells them he spent the entire night with her, he never told her what was wrong, they just slept. He took off when her mom found them and she hasn't seen him since. Max comes in and tells them Hank is missing and Valenti is holding Michael. Maria tells her mother about Michael being held because he won't tell Valenti where he was last night and asks her to tell Valenti where he was. Amy does and Valenti releases Michael. At the railroad tracks, Michael tells Isabel and Max he needs to find his family so he is leaving to find Nasedo. Max thinks Nasedo is dangerous, a shapeshifting killer, who could be anyone and they need to stick together now, more than ever. Isabel is upset that Michael does not consider them as his family. That evening, Max goes to Michael's home and finds him packing. Max tells him he can't say goodbye, that he, Isabel and Michael belong together, they are a family and no matter where Michael goes, they will always be connected. He gives Michael a package and tells him "Isabel and I wanted you to have this, it means nothing without you". Michael leaves and hitches a ride from a guy in a pickup. He opens the package, finds the crystal stones River Dog gave them, picks them up and receives flashes of images of himself, Isabel and Max together. Wednesday, 16 February 2000 Michael is making breakfast for the Evans family. Isabel tells him she didn't know he could cook and he replies "There's a lot you don't know about me". Michael asks Phillip to help him live on his own and Phillip agrees to help Michael file a Petition for Emancipation. Friday, 18 February 2000 Michael and Mr Evans go before a judge, who makes sure Michael realises that he will be completely responsible for his "financial, medical and educational decisions and then grants his petition for emancipation. Hank comes to see Valenti to explain away his absence and the gunshots. He tells him he is leaving town without Michael and wants to know if he has to sign anything. Valenti says it has already been taken care of. That night, Hank drives into a wooded area, opens the back of the station wagon, drags out and buries the body of a man that looks just like him, gets back into the car and shapeshifts into a Hispanic male. |
