Hostages-Michael(open)

[Michael Clarke]

"That's my goal." Michael couldn't believe how gorgeous Hollie looked. He would have to make sure that any man that looked at her, even out of the corner of their eye, would get a plasma bolt in the stomach. Or a warning stare. Either would do. As he felt Hollie lean against his arm(the uninjured one was the arm he had facing the door, thankfully. The doctors had told him not to put any undue stress on the other arm, seeing as it would take a few days for the nerve endings and muscle tissue to get into full sync), he was overcome with a rush of warm emotion. Here he was, finally, with the daughter he had dreamed about being unified with for almost twenty years. Almost made him tear up.

Almost.

He led Hollie through the evening traffic(a few men stared at Hollie, to which Michael responded with a glare) towards an Italian themed restaurant that he had passed on the way to the Plaza. They were able to secure a table close to a panel of windows that allowed a one-way gaze at the bustle outside. After getting wine on the table( a must), Michael began:
"I know we haven't had much time to talk for a while and...I wanted to know if you had any desire to know about your mother. What she was like." He knew that he was treading on thin ice, but he and Hollie had built a solid relationship that he knew wouldn't sour on a note like this. And besides, Hollie had a right to know.

[Hollie Clarke]

All the aromas that filled Hollie's nose as she entered the restaurant almost made her drool. Closing her mouth, she let her Dad lead her over to a table by the window - she could hear the people moving around on the other side of it - and shrugged her cardigan off, her arms tingling for a moment at the sudden change in temperature.
Sipping the wine, she'd never been much of a drinker, so the one glass would probably last all night long, she stopped as her Dad said the word 'mother'.
Opening and closing her mouth, she put the wine glass down, and tried to get a fix on a proper answer. While she had been a kid, she'd had no desire whatsoever to know about her birth parents. She'd been stubborn, still was, and because they had both abandoned her, she wanted nothing to do with them. But since her Dad had reappeared, and she'd accepted him now completely, she was beginning to wonder what the harm was in knowing about her Mom as well. She could take whatever he had to say about her, and it wasn't like he was going to say horrible things, right? He knew that would hurt, even if Hollie tried to pretend it didn't.
Nodding, she said, "I want to know."

[Michael Clarke]

Michael leaned back in his chair, starting: "I remember a lot about her, but one time in particular comes to mind. We were thinking about marriage."

"You are sooo not doing that!" Jennifer shouted through giggles, running past one of the many oak trees on the Clarke property, Michael in pursuit.
"And what if I am?!" Michael shouted after her, laughing as he caught up to her rather quickly, grabbing her in his arms and tickling her, the young lady's giggles now coming through tears, playfully trying to push her assailant away, saying through gasps:
"So...not...fair!"
"You haven't given me an answer." Michael set Jen down on the ground, his arms still locked around her waist. He looked into his lover's eyes, captivated all over again by how beautiful and ornate they were, how they took you in and would never let you go.
"So?"
"Michael..."
"Yes?"
"You know how I feel about this...we're so young, baby."
"We can make it work, I know it." Michael brushed away a lock of blond hair that had fallen in front of her face, continuing:
"Just trust me."
"Promise me something?" Jennifer brought a hand up to Michael's face, Michael responding:
"Anything."
"Promise me we'll be the best married couple on the face of the planet. Tell me that we'll raise our children in a nice house on New Earth and that we'll teach them how to reach their potential. And tell me, most of all...that you love me."
"Always."

Michael had to pause in the middle of the recounting, his emotions getting the better of him. He swallowed the lump in his throat as he continued:
"She wanted the best for us, the family, everyone. But one night we got a little out of hand and...she told me she was pregnant. She took it well, though. Jennifer...she love...loved you, Hollie. She would get in front of the mirror sometimes when she thought I wasn't watching and would talk to you, telling you of how she was going to raise you the right way, no matter what happened. After you were born and we both found out about your condition...well...you know the rest." Michael had to stop or he would have had an outburst of tears, the Captain breathing deeply as he took one of Hollie's hands, squeezing it gently as he said softly:
"I messed up. Messed up big time."

[Hollie Clarke]

Hollie couldn't help but listen, enraptured by her Dad's recount of that day with her Mom, where he proposed. At first she thought she'd be able to keep some sort of emotional distance from what he was saying, but she quickly found that wasn't the case. Before he'd finished, tears were sliding quietly down her face, her bottom lip tucked beneath her top teeth.
Of course it was great to hear about how happy her parents had been back then, she was sure they had deserved it. But...
"I can't believe my blindness was what tore you both apart," she said, her voice uneven, "it's so stupid. I mean, I wish I wasn't like this, it would be so much easier. And it's not like it makes sense, I mean, why should I be like this? What did we all deserve to have this happen to us?" She'd completely lost grip on her emotions, they were tumbling out of her now in the middle of the restaurant. This was what she got for bottling them up all the time.
Squeezing his hand tightly, she tried desperately to sniff back another wave of tears. "I'm sorry," she said, "I just... I... why did it all have to happen like this?"

[Michael Clarke]

"Hey...hey..."Michael took both of her hands now, massaging them gently as he told her quietly:
"It's not your fault. Jen and I rushed into something we shouldn't have, but I'm not going to take any of that back now. I have you now, baby girl. That's all that matters." He looked at the tears that Hollie was shedding and his heart was pricked with emotion. She had gone through so much: juggled through foster families, not knowing her real identity, having to deal with an idiot father who attempted to reconcile when he probably should have done it a whole lot sooner. The girl deserved every bit of credit she was given. Michael didn't want the focus of their discussion to be on such sad history, but rather on their present circumstances, so he offered:
"Come on, chin up. Lets actually enjoy some food and you tell me some of your computer jokes."

As they ate(and Michael listened), the Captain had a thought about Hollie's blindness...why couldn't it be fixed? What was the problem? Surely there was a medical professional suitable enough to fix her condition.
"Hollie, why haven't you consulted the Alliance about your condition yet? Because you know just as much as I do about the medical staff back on New Earth. They should be able to do something for you...right?"

[Hollie Clarke]

The tears dried up, and soon enough, Hollie was chuckling again, a smile on her face. The doubts she'd voiced just then, they were real, and they were with her always. She knew it wasn't her fault that she was born blind, or that her parents had been so affected by it, but the thoughts crept in sometimes, and they were hard to shake. Negative thoughts nearly always were.

With her lasagne half finished, and some more wine inside of her to ease everything up a bit - she was actually onto her second glass, the horror! - they progressed onto other topics.
Swallowing her mouthful of food, she placed her knife and fork down. "I have," she said, which would probably come as a surprise, "a couple of days ago, actually. I've been reading, and reading, and reading about all the different procedures and operations, which facilities have what recovery times etcetera. I think I'm finally ready to decide where to go and when to do it. Not exactly straight away, but soon. When I'm ready." She nodded, "I'm going to do it. Finally."
It had been weird even considering it, after all, being blind was the norm for her. But being able to see would be so much more wonderful. She wouldn't be defined by a 'disability' any more, even if she didn't see it that way (most of the time).
"And you'll be there for me, right?"

[Michael Clarke]

Michael was glad to hear that Hollie was looking into options and was ready to commit. He was even happier that she wanted him there.
"I left you once. I'm not leaving you again."

-End-