All The Stars We See // muke

chapter twenty-five

Michael couldn't talk with the helmet, so he resulted in physical demonstrations. With one foot out, one in, and his hands to his face, he tucked his thumb on the outside of his fists and his elbows pushed in. He nodded, and Luke tried mimicking his motions.

Michael pushed his fist right in between his ribs in the middle of his body and Luke nodded before placing his fist right where his was. Michael also grabbed at his elbows, but Luke knew that already.

"The strongest part of your body." Luke said even though he knew Michael couldn't hear him.

After practicing where he should hit someone in case he had to throw a punch, Luke nodded and then took a deep breath before opening the door to walk through. He held Michael's hand as they made their way to the engineering edge of the building, and he immediately took a deep breath as he heard the hiss of the doors opening.

"Hey, Luke," a familiar engineer waved and Luke smiled before heading to the door behind him. "- I'm sorry, but you can't go in there."

"Says who?"

"It's dangerous." He told him and Luke rose an eyebrow at him. "You'll need a hazmat suit, you and uh... who is this?"

"His name is Ashton. Mr. Hood approved of him." Luke answered before looking at Michael. "Look, there's no bad blood here. You're kind of cool, I guess. I'm sorry."

"For what?"

Michael grabbed him by his shirt before pushing him into the entrance door, and he tripped over the yellow caution tape. Luke swiped his card on the padlock before it shut, successfully keeping the man out and most others. He had the second highest in command. The only people who can bypass it was his father and government officials, though neither would be showing up anytime soon.

He turned around and then forced the door to open, and he took a deep breath as he saw the shuttle in the middle of the room. It was alone, and Luke looked around for the engineers only to find them huddled beside what could only be described as some kind of evidence board, but with science. There were graphs, sketches, red string and green string all swirled and spun around each other.

The were a hand on his shoulder and he went to hold it, but something was off. Where was his gloves?

He turned around and then gasped when he felt his wrist hitting the metal bar in front of him. A metal cuff dug into his skin and before he could do anything the other end was clipping around the railing. It hurt to move, and when he struggled it felt like the metal was going to rip his skin off from his body.

But he had two.

He grabbed at his father's blazer while he was within range, but the man shoved the point of his elbow into the crease of his arm and he couldn't help but cry out as a sharp pain shot up his arm. His clenched fist and tense muscles didn't help either.

"No!"

"You're smart, but did you think you could outsmart me?" He heard his father's voice and he glared up at the man as someone held his hand behind him. "I taught you. I will always be two steps ahead of you."

"You're despicable." He spat as he watched a bunch of bodies flood the room and grab on to Michael. "Why are you even here?"

"You think your little playground ruse was going to fool me?" He snickered. "I know you and Ashton. You're nothing but children, and you share half a brain cell."

"Let him go." He hissed as he saw the man begin to undo the strap under his chin. "Don't touch him."

"You're not in the position to be telling me what to do, now are you, son?" He snapped and Luke watched as the man beside him slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Aren't you excited?" He asked as the engineers climbed the stairs to see what the commotion was about. "We're about to make history people. An alien, in the flesh, in blood. Science will praise our names."

Luke struggled as he saw Michael's figure cower down and he could tell those men were holding his cololeiis too hard. They were tearing it, and when he squirmed and wiggled in their grasp the more it would hurt. Michael was in pain, and he could see the blood dripping from his fingers.

"Don't do this!" He shouted, but it was muffled to just above gibberish. "You're hurting him!"

The helmet was ripped off of him and Luke watched as Michael bared his teeth, eyes flowing a dark shade of pine and... and navy? His left eye was blue?

He stopped struggled as he stared at Michael, his left eye a different color from his right. He wasn't mistaken, his vision was perfect and the lighting was good.

His eye was blue.

"Exquisite." His father examined as he grabbed his face and stared at his eye. "Why, you remind me of Luke when he's angry. His eyes become that same shade of midnight."

Luke bit the inside of his cheek as he reached into his sleeve, fingers fumbling with the clip he had taken from his father's blazer when he grabbed him. It should work, and if watching all those action movies with Michael taught him ons thing its help always comes at the most desperate and hopeless part of a mission.

"Look at his ears, sir. They seem to be twitching like that of an animal." Someone noticed and Luke watched the scene unfold while concentrating on his hands as he desperately tried to bend the paperclip properly.

"What's this?" His father observed as he raised his left arm and looked at his hand. "Blood? You bleed blue. Interesting."

"I believe the biology lab is better suited for this, Mr. Hemmings." A random engineer had commented and Luke caught Michael trying to stare into his father's eyes.

He's hurt. He can't do that. He'll just hurt himself more.

Luke got frustrated as he shoved the clip into the lock, only for the cuffs to keep biting into his wrist and his fingers to grow more and more sweaty. He was going to drop the damn thing before he could open them, and with his luck that's exactly what's going to happen.

Why did he think he could do this if he couldn't even throw a proper punch? Why did he think he could ever outsmart his dad when he's not even half of the man he is? He's foolish, stupid, and now Michael was in trouble and it's his fault for not thinking about all the outcomes. He was supposed to help him get home, but at this point he'll bleed to death with their filthy fingers digging into him like he had no feelings or sense of pain.

He threw his head back against the railing, and he saw Michael fill with some kind of new fire as he felt his own hope begin to diminish. His wrist was cramping from the grip, and he was sure he could barely feel his fingers as he tried unlocking them again.

Michael's eyes were flashing, his skin burning a shade of angry red and Luke was honestly afraid as he saw Michael pull his leg to him before kicking with a force that made the man stumble. And when his foot was freed, it slammed toe first into the neck of the one holding his left leg and he immediately dropped him.

"Fools!" Luke's father shouted and Luke felt anger flare in him when his own father grabbed at Michael's already bleeding arm. He knew his fingers were pulling into his flesh, and Michael's dripping fingers were enough answer.

He felt the metal loosen after his millionth time twisting the paperclip and he felt a flame burn in his chest as he shook the cuff off and squeezed his fist. He couldn't explain his anger, his full blown rage, but it was better than feeling useless and pathetic.

If he was honest, this felt like the plot of a movie they've seen together, two lovers fighting off a group of bad guys for one another. The smile they gave each other when their eyes met felt scripted, and Luke threw a perfect punch after twisting his body and slamming his fist into a spot he'd rather not name.

He freed his hand from his grasp as he crumbled to the floor and Luke stared down at his left hand before looking back at Michael.

He had other things to worry about.

1455 words