Location: Paris, France

Calum's POV

As I walked through the slightly crowded streets, I regreted telling Sally my real name.  But I couldn't help it. Not only did she seem eerily familiar, she immediately came off as one of those people you wanted to tell almost everything to - which also made her much, much more dangerous.

The streets became less crowded as I continued to walk out of the more busy part of town.  I rubbed my face and sighed. I was sure I looked like a mess. I had decided to go to our emergency meet-up spot in hopes of finding Mikey, although I still didn't know what I was gonna tell him.  We had decided that a small café with little service would be the perfect spot with less of a chance of a big scene occurring.  As I approached the small café, the dank air enveloped me.  Mikey was leaning against the dark, sooty brick wall (kinda like the one in the pic above) smoking a cigarette with his eyes closed. He almost looked completely out of place next to the small planter box with fake bright red flowers. I stopped on the opposite side of the street and watched him take a drag, incline his head towards the sky, and blow out the smoke.  As I stood silently and watched the smoke curl, stretch, and drift away, he brought his head back down and opened his eyes.  They were red and puffy and looking right at me.  I smiled and he stood straighter as I began walking over to him.  As I got closer, he put out his cigarette and I saw his muscles tense.

As soon as I was in front of him, instead of our usual friendly greeting, he slapped me. HARD.

"Mikey! What the fu-" I didn't get to finish as he threw me against the brick wall and punched me in the gut before dragging me farther around the corner into the shadows.

"WHAT THE HELL! MIKEY-" I tried to say again before he punched me in the solar plexus, which not only knocked the wind out of me, but also sent a hell of a lot of pain through my body. 

Before I could recover, he threw me to the ground.  I tried to roll, but I was totally unprepared and off-balance and within seconds his knee was pressing into my chest with an arm pressing my throat and a strong grip binding my hands above my head.   I tried to kick him off me, but he had the advantage, balance, and weight over me. What the fuck is wrong with Michael? I thought.

"Mikey, its me, Calum!" I yelped.

His eyes assessed me, before hardening again.

"No you're not." he replied through gritted teeth.

I was starting to get frustrated, "Michael, I AM Calum! You see-"

"NO YOU ARE NOT! They KILLED him. Now you were sent here to KILL ME!"

Where the hell did he get that from?

"Mikey, calm the fuck down. They didn't kill Calum. I'm right here. Now get the hell off me."

His eyes softened for a moment before returning to stone, "If he isn't dead, where the hell is he?!"

"Are you serious?!!? I'm right-"

"MOTHERFUCKER! YOU BETTER TELL ME WHERE THE HELL HE IS BEFORE I KILL YOUR ASS!" he yelled.

"Shhhh..." I said as I tried to calm him down, for we didn't need some big scene, "I AM Calum."

His eyes narrowed, "What is the word?"

"What? What word?" I asked before he pressed harder on my neck and chest.

"If you are really Calum, then you know what I'm talking about."

I began to have my doubts after he said that.  I wondered if he really was Mikey or if he was some other guy trying to get some code word.

"How do I know you are really Michael? What IS the word?"

"I am Michael, DAMMIT!"

I smirked, "I don't knoooowww... that doesn't seem like enough proof. What's the word?"

His face was now pure anger, "FUCKER! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS! You have 30 seconds to tell me before I kill you!"

At that moment, I figured out how to tell if it really was Mikey.

I choked, "Well, if you want me to tell you, give me a little air."

He hesitated before releasing his pressure just a bit, but that was all I needed before I kicked one last time and used the momentum and his loss of balance and weight to get him off me.  I ignored the pain in my chest and took a few seconds to catch my breath.  Then I saw him coming at me out of the corner of my eye. 

"Perfect" I whispered under my breath as I turned to face him.

I needed to fight him in order to verify it really was Michael. I fought him for many years back at academy, so I knew what he was like.  And fighting technique was not something that could easily be copied, unlike appearance or other mannerisms.

"They didn't kill me Mikey. I'm right here." I said as I circled him.

He growled in response and I growled right back.

For a second, we were little kids again, and it looked like his eyes were recalling the same memory.

"Hey Mikey, we shouldn't fight like angry cats as they say!" I yelled to him as we circled each other. "Good idea! I don't wanna be a cat. We should be wolves - as fierce as wolves." he responded before growling. I smiled and growled right back.  At that instant, he pounced and knocked me to the ground where we wrestled for minutes. Soon enough, we were sprawled on the ground, breathing heavily as we looked up at the night sky through the open barn roof.  It was a clear night, with a bright, full moon.  I glanced at him, "Wolves?", and he smiled back, "Wolves."  I was sure the administrators who hated our guts would give us some detention for disturbing the class, but we didn't care. We turned to look up at the full moon and howled in harmony.

Again, he attacked first , but this time I was more prepared.  We fought hand-to-hand for good amount of time, and the longer we fought, not only did I become increasingly tired, I also became more certain that he really was Mikey.  If he wasn't Michael, he would have draw sort of weapon by now.

Michael hated weapons.  He had once told me, "Humans weren't born with tools - guns, knives, etcetera - we were born with our fists. Our bodies are the only tools we have until we die - and they are the greatest tools we will ever have.  If you can't fight and beat me without man-made tools, then you are not a true fighter."  I always thought fighting was a sense of identity for him, and for good reason...

CLAP!  echoed through the ally as he hit me again...

He was fucking good at it.

I recovered quickly and soon enough we were locked into a wrestle. He swept me off my feet, but before he could land on top of me again I rolled out from beneath him.

"Paws" I said as I landed on my back, breathing hard. I really hope its him I thought.

He stopped and rolled onto his back to look up at the sky,"Balls."

I smiled and turned toward him.

"Wolves" we said in unison.

"We really aught to change those dude" I told him.

He chuckled in response. 

"You still know how to pack a punch real well." I said to him.

"And you still fight like a girl." he retorted.

I smirked, "And you act like that's an insult."

"Well, it should be, considering I beat like every girl I fight."

I sat up, "Is that so? What about that time with Jessica-"

"- I was sick as fuck."

"Or that time with Anne-"

"- I was drunk."

"Well, she was too. So technically, it pretty much was an equal fight." 

"Or what about that time with Michelle?" I interrupted as he opened his mouth to respond.

"She took advantage of me trying not to pummel her on purpose."

I laughed, "Yeah... yeah."

He glared at me while chuckling under his breath, "Believe whatever the hell you want."

Silence descended upon us as we looked up at the quickly darkening sky.  Suddenly Mikey sat up with glossy eyes and a serious expression.

"You don't know how fucking glad I am that you're alive." he glanced up at me, "I honestly don't know what I'd do if-if you..." he trailed off.

I looked into his eyes and saw the rare tears threatening to spill over and took him into an embrace, "Same, man. Same."

"I was so worried" he whispered before holding me at arms length, "You could have been dead.  They've been picking us off one by one as they get closer.  They are always on our tail Cal so we can't make mistakes."

"Yeah, I know." I replied.

He leaned back, "I know you do... so where have you been?"

I gulped. I still didn't know what I was going to tell him and I was definitely not ready to tell him she got away.

"Well... ya know how I was on the roof and I was supposed to stay up there to make sure she didn't escape, and you were inside to make sure she didn't leave through some other route." I stalled.

His piercing gaze almost made me want to tell him everything right then and there, yet I forced myself to stay calm and to take it slow.

"Yes, and I told you when she was coming your way." he replied as he gave me his undivided attention.

I squirmed under his intense stare, "Well, I found her. And I know what she looks like."

->>---->

Dun dun duuuun!

Cliff hanger-ish.

What do you think of the new info about Mikey and Cal?  I hope this paints a better picture of their relationship.  More Mikey and Calum will be coming next.

Thank you to those that gave feedback on the code words... Y'all were really helpful.

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