Title: Ambiguous Resolutions
Part: 5-6
Author: Tammy
Email: tammyathome@earthlink.net
Disclaimer: I Own Nothing
Summary: After high school, Michael leaves town-and comes back with a wife.
Category: Mainly focuses on Michael-M/M; I/A; M/L So i will put this under both General conventional and Character: Michael
Rating: PG
Author's Note:These "" are quotation marks, and these '' are character's thoughts. Takes place in the future, but any episode after Tess, Lies, and Videotape never happened-i.e. 'Destiny' has no role in my story! Who will Michael marry? I'll let you the readers decide-I've already made my choice-can you make me change my mind?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Michael sat at the table drinking a glass of soda. He looked out the window, staring as the rain hit the glass pane. "Maybe I should go out and check on her."

Maria put her hand on his shoulder, "She's fine. If she wanted to come in, she would be inside."

"I don't know. The rain's coming down pretty hard now."

Isabel rolled her eyes. "Jesus Christ, Michael! It's just water."

"I don't think he cares about the rain, Isabel."

"Michael, stop worrying. You called the wedding off-she's no longer your concern. Not like she's worth the effort anyway." Isabel said flippantly.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What I'm saying, is that she's not worth the time, not worth the effort. Why are you sitting here, all glum and depressed? You should be out celebrating that you finally got rid of her."

"Just shut up." He snapped.

"Excuse me? Oh, no no no. I've put up with her for four days, and now you aren't even getting married to her. I have no reason to be nice to her."

"Nice? That's what you call the last four days? You were barely civil to her. You prejudged her before she even got here and decided that you had to get rid of her for 'my benefit'. You didn't even know her and you already hated her." He looked out the window again.

"Michael, I'm-"

"No, don't even say it. I know you're not." Michael stood up and left the room, heading towards the guestroom.

~*~

Samara looked down at her watch. 12:30. 'Everyone should be in bed by now. I can just slip in, grab my stuff, and get out of there as fast as possible.' She looked out the car window at the rain, 'At least the weather matches my mood.'

She ran towards the front door as rain pelted her from all sides. By the time she had made the short distance from the car to the front porch, she was already drenched. 'Please let this be a town where nobody locks their front doors.' She prayed silently to herself. She pushed down on the handle and was relieved to find that it was indeed one of those towns. She closed the door behind her and quickly made her way down the two hallways towards the guestroom.

She opened the door and closed it behind her. She shivered at the draft that somehow found it way into the room and headed over towards the dresser to pack her things in her suitcase.

~*~

Michael woke up at the sound of someone rifling through dresser drawers. He saw her shimmy out of her clothes and took a sudden intake of breath. 'Okay, so maybe I was lying before. She really is beautiful.' He grabbed the towel that was strewn across the chair next to the bed, where he had left it after his shower.

Samara grabbed a pair of pajamas she found at the bottom of her suitcase- some sweats and a men's t-shirt. Just as she put them on, she felt him behind her.

Michael began towel drying her hair. Saying goodbye to her had to be the hardest thing he ever did. 'Maybe I can just pretend,' he thought, 'Maybe, just for tonight, I can pretend that everything will be okay. That I'll wake up tomorrow morning and she'll ask for my opinion on something for the wedding.'

"Don't do that." She turned around and took the towel from his hands. She threw it on one of the chairs in the room. She looked up into his eyes, and was shocked to see a hunger she hadn't seen in the last four days.

Before she could react he grabbed her and pulled her close, and covered her mouth in a hungry, sloppy kiss. She knew she should stop him, but her heart and body were telling her mind a different story. He deepened the kiss and she moaned into his mouth. Suddenly she saw a flash of light, followed by a series of pictures, looping in almost a video like presentation. She saw a crash, followed by the removal of a couple of pods, which were later hidden away in the desert. Next she saw a spiky haired boy seeing another little boy and girl, but running away in fear when he saw headlights of a passing car. Then she saw him growing up in foster care and she felt all the emotions he felt as he grew up-not knowing who he was or where he came from. Then she saw an older version of the same spiky haired boy arguing with a blonde girl in a motel. Something about Aladdin and then she was forced into a new series of pictures. She saw him saying goodbye to the blonde girl, and then calling someone on a payphone at a train station. And then, she saw herself.

Before she could even comprehend what she saw, he pulled away, breaking the connection. "Stay here with me tonight. One last time." He breathed into her ear.

Suddenly the picture of the blonde girl flashed in her head. "I…I can't." He nodded and he looked hurt, but he seemed to understand her answer. Samara grabbed her suitcase and ran out of the house.

In her cursory to get into her car, she missed the rock lying in driveway. She tripped over and fell, scraping her knee on the cement. "Dammit." She said and began to cry. 'Why couldn't he have just been asleep?'

~*~

Michael woke up the next morning alone. Alone. 'Did yesterday really happen?' he thought to himself. Then he rolled over and looked at the untouched side of the guest bed. He got out of bed to brush his teeth. On the way back from the bathroom he saw the towel on one of the chairs and the previous night came flooding back to him. 'Why didn't I just pretend to be asleep?' He knew he hurt her, turning from hot to cold, to hot again. But he knew that he couldn't keep turning her emotions on and off as well. 'Oh well, nothing left to do but go get breakfast.'

He walked into the kitchen and was surprised to see Maria up, nursing a cup of coffee. "Good morning."

She smiled. "Good morning. I figured I give breakfast a shot. So what'll you have?"

"Pancakes."

She frowned at first, but flashed a smile a second later. "No problem." 'Okay, now how do you make pancakes without a mix?'

~*~

Fifteen minutes later and Isabel awoke to the smell of something cooking-or burning in the kitchen. After making a quick stop at the bathroom she hurried to the kitchen.

"Morning." She greeted Michael and Maria, and sat down after pouring herself a cup of coffee and listening to their replies. "Listen, Michael, about last night-"

"It's okay Isabel. Let's just drop it." He turned and looked at Maria as she sat a pile of what looked like pancakes in front of him. "Um…thanks."

Isabel was about to laugh when Maria set a plateful of pancakes in front of her as well. "Enjoy." Maria sat down and waited them to taste her cooking. When they didn't touch them she said, "Well, aren't you going to eat?"

Michael picked up his fork and took a small bite. He grimaced at first, but tried to cover it up. Isabel tried a bit of hers, but wasn't as discreet. She spat hers out after holding it in her mouth for a few seconds. "Aren't they supposed to be cooked in the middle?"

"They are cooked in the middle!" Maria looked over to Michael for support.

But all Michael could think was, 'They aren't red.'

"Fine then. Let's just go over to the Crashdown for breakfast."

"Good idea." Both Michael and Isabel replied and then headed out of the kitchen to go get dressed.

~*~

"Okay, everyone. We'll take my car over to the Crashdown." Isabel said before grabbing her purse and keys and heading out the front door. Maria mumbled something about pancakes but followed Isabel. Michael was just about to leave when he heard the phone ring.

"Hello?" He said into the receiver.

"Michael! It's so good to hear you, " replied a familiar voice.

"Maggie, nice to hear you too. I'd love to stay and talk, but I'm actually going out right now."

"Going out to celebrate already?"

"Celebrate?" Michael remembered his conversation with Isabel the night before. Had Mara told Maggie already? "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing. I just thought you might be celebrating the pregnancy-obviously my mistake." Maggie continued to ramble on, but Michael didn't hear her.

"Pregnancy? What are you talking about?"

"Didn't Mara tell you? She's pregnant. I called her yesterday and I was calling today to reconfirm the appointment we set up. Is she there? Can I talk to her?"

Michael couldn't believe what he was hearing. Mara? Pregnant? How could that be-the doctors had told her she couldn't have children.

"Michael? Michael? Are you there, Michael?"

"Yeah. I have to go Maggie." And with that, he hung up the phone, a bit dazed and walked outside. He stepped into the back seat of the car. On the ride over to the restaurant he started thinking. Yesterday, before he had told Mara the news, she had told him that she had news as well. The pregnancy must have been it. Now that the shock was beginning to wear off, Michael found himself angry. Why hadn't she told him? He had a right to know. It was his baby too.

"Michael, we're here. You can get out of the car now." Maria said. Michael looked up and realized he was sitting in the car, in the middle of the Crashdown parking lot. He got out and Maria grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the back door.

"Why are we going through here?"

"The Crashdown's not open today, I think they're doing inventory or something. But Liz always leaves the back door open-Isabel and I come here a lot for breakfast."

~*~

Samara managed a weak smile and accepted the cup of hot chocolate Liz offered. Earlier that morning she had been disappointed to find the Crashdown closed, but luckily Liz had seen her through the window and let her in.

Liz returned the smile. She could hardly believe Samara was up and about. Last night Maria had called her and told her the news, and Liz knew that if that had been her-she would have spent an entire week in bed. After finishing breakfast, Liz considered breaking out the ice cream, but remembered she didn't have any, and figured hot chocolate would have to do. "So, what are you going to do?"

"I figured I'd drive home today. But I had to see you first, to say goodbye and to thank you."

"Thank me?"

"Yeah, I don't think I would have survived the weekend if it wasn't for you." She paused and then got up. "I better be going now. Thanks for breakfast-what do I owe you?"

"How about an explanation?"

~*~

Samara looked up to find Michael, his eyes wild and angry. "Excuse me?"

"You heard what I said. Why didn't you tell me?" He struggled to keep his voice down.

"Tell you what?"

"Tell me you were pregnant!" He yelled.

Samara's eyes widened. "How did you find out?"

"Maggie called me. And it's a good thing I did or I might never had known. You didn't even plan on ever telling me-did you?" He accused.

"No, I didn't." Michael gaped and started to say something. Samara's eyes flashed and she saw red. "Don't even start. You have no right, no right whatsoever to come in here all high and mighty and talk about me not telling you my secret."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard what I said. Why didn't you tell me?" She mocked.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" She yelled. She looked over at his confused face. "Do I have to spell it out for you?" She paused and spoke in a low and angry controlled voice, "Why didn't you tell me you were an alien?"

Part VI

Isabel gasped. "You…you never told her?"

Michael looked shocked. When he didn't answer Samara, she sat down at one of the stools and put her head in her hands. "How did you-how did you find out?"

She looked up and looked defeated. She spoke in a broken voice, "I saw it."

"What do you mean you saw it?"

"I saw it. When you kissed me." Liz and Maria exchanged glances. "I saw everything. I didn't know what it was when I first saw-but now I know. I saw you, I saw your life."

"When-" Maria faltered, "When did you see this?"

"Last night." Maria began to cry. Liz went over to comfort her, but Michael beat her to it. He wrapped his arms around her.

Maria forcefully pushed him away. "No. You bastard! You f***ing bastard! I waited six years for you! You leave, telling me you can't give me what I want. And then you come back, with a fiancée. Then you break up with her, telling her that you want to be with me. And then you kiss her?" She pushed him again. "You bastard! I hate you! How could you let her? How could you let her see those flashes? I didn't even get to see them!" She began to sob and dropped into one of the booths.

Michael walked over and sat in the seat across from her, "I can't explain why Mara saw those flashes. She's never seen them before, so I don't know why she would have seen them last night. The only thing I can think of is that for the first time in six years, I was finally true to myself. That I finally admitted how much I love you and how much I need you. And as for those six years, I'd like to say that I would go back and stay with you. But I wouldn't, because then I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't have found myself and realized that I love you and always have." He closed his eyes, praying that she would believe him.

"Lies, lies, lies." Maria said.

"No, he's speaking the truth." Michael opened his eyes in surprise. "When I said I saw his life, I was telling the truth. I saw his whole life. And I saw-" Samara's voice broke, "I saw how much he loved and loves you."

"Really?" Samara nodded her head. "Why would you tell me this? I mean, don't you hate me for taking him away from you?"

Samara laughed, but it came out more like a choked sob, "Because I love him too. And as cliché as it may sound, I love him enough to know when to let him go." She got up and walked towards the door.

"Wait, where are you going?" Michael asked.

"Home." She paused. "Sometime between now and next week come by and get your things." She headed for the door again but Michael stopped her, grabbing her by her elbow.

"What about the baby?"

"Don't worry about it. I can take care of myself just fine."

"No, you don't understand." Michael smiled. "I want to be a part of my baby's life. I want to be there, be a father."

"No, you don't understand." She looked away from his eyes. "Now it's time for me to be selfish. See, me and my baby-we're a package deal. If you don't want me, you can't have my baby. I'm sorry Michael, but from this point on, I don't want you in my life." This time she made it out the door and into her car, Michael was too shocked to stop her.