Work Text:
09:00, Saturday 17th June 1989.
The sound of his alarm blared in his ears, his eyes snapped open as he sat up to shut the damned thing off. His shift at the pizzeria started at 1pm and it was currently 9 in the morning, he had a few hours to relax at home. Michael dragged his feet out from his duvet and slammed them onto the hardwood floor, immediately wincing at the cold temperature on his previously warm feet. He hated the morning, even more so when it was a weekday, he had to wake up, get his siblings ready for school, make their lunches, get himself ready for a long day of work at Freddy's and then drive his siblings to school. He was grateful that it was the weekend and that he could relax for a few hours before work.
The house was quiet as Mike was the only one awake. He walked down the stairs, grabbing onto the banister when he nearly tripped on his own feet.
'I need to wake myself up...' Michael said to himself as he walked into the bathroom. He groggily walked over to the sink, reaching his hand out to turn the tap on. He cupped some water in his hands and splashed it over his face in an attempt to wake himself up a bit. It helped a little as his eyes were now easier to open.
He looked up at his reflection in the mirror and for a moment a familiar man flashed in his place, a man he didn't want to think about...
His hair was a mess, his mouth curled into a frown, there were dark bags under his greyish-blue eyes and there was stubble all over his chin. It was hard taking care of two children, trying to hold down a job and take care of himself all at once. He grabbed the hairbrush and ran it through his short, brown hair, trying make it look as neat as possible. Next he needed to get rid of the stubble on his chin, he hated it, it made him look 10 years older.
He opened the cabinet beside the mirror and looked inside until he found shaving cream and a razor. He placed the razor down on the side of the sink and squirted some of the shaving cream into his hand, mixing up until it turned into a foamy texture. He brought his hand up to his chin and carefully applied the foam all over the stubble. Reaching for the tap again, Mike washed the excess foam off of his hands. He picked up the razor and slowly rolled the blade down his cheek, repeating the action. He stopped when he saw a pair of big, green eyes staring at him in the mirror.
"Hey Evan," Michael said softly as he turned to face his little brother. "How did you sleep?"
"I slept okay I guess..." Evan replied, obviously not fully awake. Michael turns back around to the mirror to continue shaving.
"No nightmares last night?" The older man asked.
"No nightmares.." Evan said still staring at his brother.
"Good," Michael responded, "Did you need the toilet? I can get out for a minute." Mike asked, worried he was hogging the bathroom.
"No I'm okay. I just wanted to see what you were doing."
"Ah, that makes sense." The eldest Afton said as he continued dragging the razor across his face.
"What are you doing?" Evan said in a quiet voice.
"I'm shaving, I don't want to grow a beard now, do I? I'd look like Uncle Henry." Mike said smiling as his younger brother giggled.
"Did father shave?" Evan asked when he stopped laughing.
"That's a good question, too bad I don't know the answer. He was a very secretive man." Michael responded. "One day, I'll have to teach you how to do this." He said. Evan didn't say anything after that and they both carried on doing their own thing in comfortable silence. Until that silence was broken by the teenage girl stomping down the stairs. Elizabeth had always hated mornings ever since she was a baby.
"Evan get out, I need to have a shower!" She moaned, not realising that Michael was also in the bathroom.
"Oi! You don't speak like that to your little brother. You can speak to other people like that but not to your family." Michael warned.
Liz looked down at her feet before muttering an apology. "Sorry Evan."
"S'okay." Evan replied, matching her tone.
"Right I'm done in here. Evan come on, let get you some breakfast while Liz showers."
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The rest of the morning was pretty peaceful, Liz and Evan sat in the living room watching a movie while Michael was in the kitchen, cleaning the dishes from yesterday. Once he had finished drying off all the dishes, he put them back into the cabinet and walked into the living room, sitting down on the sofa next to Evan.
“Are you two going to be alright here while I’m at work?” Michael asked looking at the younger children.
“Yeah, we’ll be fine. Right, Evan?” Elizabeth said.
“Yep..” Evan responded, not taking his eyes off the television.
“You know you can call me at any time, don’t you?”
“Yes Mike, we know. We know if we need you, we can call you.” Elizabeth was fed up of having the same conversation over and over again. I mean, she was 14 for Christ sake, she could take care of herself and Evan.
“All right then.” Michael replied. He didn’t like it when Lizzie talked like that but what could he do about it? He wasn’t her dad.
After a few minutes of sitting in silence, Mike stood up and walked to the staircase. Lizzie turned her head to watch him walk up the stairs. When he was out of sight, she turned her head back to the television.
Michael walked down the hall to his bedroom, cringing at the mess. ‘I’ll clean it when I have time.’ He told himself knowing that it was a lie. He headed over to the wardrobe and opened the creaky door, revealing multiple clothing items hanging from coat hangers. He flicked through until he found his work uniform, a red polo shirt and black trousers. He got changed and looked at himself in the little mirror on his bedside table. ‘I look like a right nob..’ The man said as he stared at his reflection.
He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard a knock at the door, it wasn’t uncommon for Henry to show up with no warning, usually to check up on Michael and the kids. He knew that Liz and Ev didn’t like answering the door so he quickly made his way downstairs. Once he reached the front door, he grabbed the handle and turned it, the door opened…
It wasn’t Henry. It was someone that Michael never thought he would see again. He was frozen, he didn’t know what to do. He stood, staring for a moment before he tried to slam the door shut but it didn’t close all the way. Michael looked down to see a foot in between the door and the frame, holding the door open a crack. He was panicking, he tried to call out for Elizabeth and Evan but he couldn’t get anything out.
“Wow Michael, that’s no way to greet your father.” The man at the door said with a twisted grin on his face.
“I- You- Where have you b- been?” Michael managed to whisper, hating the way he stuttered.
“Well, I went from place to place trying to start a new life but I wasn’t satisfied. None of that matters now because I’m home.” William stated, pushing the door open fully. Michael backed away slowly as William approached him.
“Why are you backing away from me? Are you scared?” William spoke in a mocking tone as he reached his hand out to cup his son’s cheek. “My my, you’ve grown up so much, my boy. I trust that you have been taking care of Elizabeth and Evan.” William was still smiling at his eldest child.
“I have…” Michael muttered, not looking his father in the eyes.
“Good, I’m excited to see them. Where are they?” William questioned, releasing his grip on Michael’s cheek.
“I can’t let you see them. I heard what happened at the pizzeria all those years ago, the five children going missing, you were the main suspect.” Michael said growing more confident at the mention of his siblings.
“And you really believe that it was me?” William replied, the twisted smile still on his face.
“…”
The smile on William’s face fell.
“I’m your father, Michael. You can’t keep my children away from me!” William yelled, staring at the young man in front of him.
“You left. You disappeared for seven years- seven fucking years! I was a teenager and you left me with two children, no explanation, no money, no nothing!” Michael roared back at his father. He didn’t notice that William had moved closer towards him, he saw the older man reach his hand into his back pocket and pull something sharp out.
“What are yo-“ Michael stopped mid-sentence, feeling a burning pain in his shoulder. He slowly turned his head toward the pain to see the sharp knife sticking out of his shoulder, William still holding onto the handle.
“Don’t you talk to me like that, Michael!” The eldest Afton screamed in his son’s face. He heard footsteps coming from the other room and sure enough Elizabeth and Evan ran in to see what was happening. The colour drained from their faces as they stared at the scene in front of them. “My beautiful children, how have you been?” William said smiling at the two younger children, as if he didn’t have a knife plunged into his eldest son’s shoulder. “Mikey..” Evan whispered, tears forming in his eyes.
“RUN, LOCK YOURSELVES IN MY ROOM AND CALL THE POLICE!” Michael cried, using what little energy he had left before he lost consciousness.
The young man watched as Elizabeth dragged Evan out of the room, running as fast as she could. William pulled the knife out from Michael’s shoulder, watching him collapse to the ground, desperately trying to keep pressure on the wound.
“It didn’t have to be this way, Michael. Why do you always make my life so difficult?” William spat out before went to find the others. As he stepped over Mike’s legs, Michael grabbed ahold of William’s trousers, tripping the man up. William turned his head to face Michael again.
Whatever William was about to do to him, didn’t matter as long as Liz and Evan were safe. He would do anything for them, including getting himself killed to buy them more time to get to safety.
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Elizabeth shoved Evan through the door into Michael’s bedroom and slammed the door, locking it behind her.
“Evan, you need to be brave and call the police, tell them to get here as quick as they can. Can you do that for me?” She said, panicking.
“On it!” Evan replied, picking up the phone to dial 911.
Liz got on all fours, reaching for the box under Michael’s bed. She grabbed ahold of it and pulled it out from under the bed. She hesitated before opening it but she knew there wasn’t much time before William killed her brother. She basically ripped the lid off the box, reached in and pulled out the gun that Michael keeps for protection. She remembered when Michael told her to never touch it unless it was an emergency, and this was in fact, an emergency.
“Lock the door after me, okay?” She said to Evan. He gave her a thumbs up and that was that. She walked out the room, closing the door behind her, hearing the lock make a familiar noise.
______________________________________________________
“LET GO OF ME!” William demanded, trying to pry Michael’s hand off of his trouser leg. He slashed the knife against Michael’s hand, leaving a deep gash.
“SHIT!” Michael cried out, feeling the blood run down his arm. William quickly got on top of Michael holding him down, knife in hand, ready to stab the boy again if he needed to. Michael stared up at him with wide eyes.
“I didn’t want to do this to you, my boy. I wish you had just let me in without a fight. All I wanted was to be with you again, but you ruined everything. I love you Michael, I’ll end your suffering now.” William spoke as he pulled the knife up. Michael shut his eyes and waited for the pain…
Suddenly a gunshot was heard.
His eyes snapped open to the sight of William on top of him holding his chest as the blood soaked his shirt, he was staring with wide eyes at someone by the door frame that connected the two rooms. William dropped the knife and fell onto the floor next to Michael, he was passed out from shock most likely. Michael looked up to see his little sister holding the gun from under his bed, tears were streaming down her cheeks and she looked at their father. Michael was still holding onto his shoulder in an attempt to stop himself from bleeding out.
“Oh god…” She mumbled as she walked over to the two men.
“It’s okay, Liz.. You did good.” Michael whispered as the teenage girl fell to her knees and grabbed his hand.
“You’ll be okay, Mickey. I promise…”
Michael smiled at her, she hadn’t called him ‘Mickey’ since she was a toddler. Sirens could be heard in the distance, that was the last thing Michael heard before he lost consciousness.
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When he woke up a few hours later, he was in a hospital bed. He looked around the room before noticing all the wires poking out of his body, connecting to machines. An IV tube was attached to his right arm, which was providing his body with water. Suddenly, he remembered what happened. What happened after he passed out? What happened to his father? Was he alive? And most importantly, where were Elizabeth and Evan?
He was pulled from his thoughts as someone opened the door and entered the room. Michael thought it was a doctor because his vision was blurry from just waking up. It wasn’t a doctor. It was Henry. His uncle Henry was here.
“Jesus Christ, Mike.. You’re okay.” Henry said in disbelief as he ran over to the bed and carefully pulled the young man into his arms. He ran his hand through Michael’s hair.
“Henry, where are my siblings?” Michael questioned.
“They’re okay, they’re with the police. They needed to ask them some questions about what happened.” Henry said trying to comfort him.
“What about my father?…”
“He’s okay too, they’re fixing him up and then he’ll be going to prison.” Henry said, looking at Michael. He looked so much older, lying in the hospital bed with so many tubes coming out of his body. The two sat in silence for a while until Michael said something that made Henry’s heart shatter.
“You’ve been a better dad to me than he could’ve ever been. Thank you Henry.”
“You’re welcome, son.”