DEVIL, DEVIL (Michael Langdon)

vi.

Night fell. Judas couldn't sleep. He sat at the end of the bed, hands shaking. Michael was alive. Michael was here. He was dreading his interview. Alone in a room with the person he had never wanted to see again. Something told him that Michael wasn't exactly going to go easy on him, even with their past. Michael may have looked the same, but he had changed. In a lot of ways. He had once been fearful, locked within himself. But now... now he was open, and stronger than ever.

That thought terrified Judas more than he cared to admit. He had seen Michael do impossible things. Things that he himself would never be able to do in a million years. John Henry had thought that Michael was possessed by the Devil, and maybe he was right, because the energy that Judas felt when he looked at Michael's face was evil and full of white-hot rage. The Devil wearing an angel's skin.

In the sitting room the next morning, the song changed once more. Judas hardly even noticed. He was too occupied in his own head, alone on the couch with his knees pulled up to his chest like a little boy. Gallant wasn't beside him like usual. According to Evie, he might not ever join them in the sitting room again. "This song makes me so melancholy," Dinah said. "They used it in a very special Hardy Boys episode where one of the Hardy Boys' girlfriends dies. Can't remember which one. I had the biggest crush on Shaun Cassidy." She let out a faint chuckle. "Innocent times."

"Boring times," Coco stated.

"The Hardy Boys was a very popular program," Dinah replied.

"Yeah, of course it was. You only had three networks," Coco said. "You know what, this is exactly why this is so much harder on us youths than it is for you geriatrics. You're used to only having two or three lame things in your life, like TV networks, uh, ways to drink coffee, sexual orientations." She looked up at Mallory, who was setting down a tray of water. "Mallory, help me with this, please."

"Dog breeds," Mallory offered. "We had at least ten different Pomeranians to choose from. And you guys were cool with drinking tap water."

"Juices," Judas said softly. "I never even thought people would drink strawberry cucumber juice."

Coco nodded her agreement. "We had so many different options for everything. Dental floss, air fresheners. We didn't just order a burger- - we needed to know if we wanted turkey or veggie or that meatless kind that bleeds like the real thing."

"We had at least four Chrises that could star in a movie," Mallory said.

"And they were all hot," Judas added with a faint laugh.

"How many did you have?" Mallory asked Evie and Dinah, who had no reply.

Judas was almost enjoying the senseless arguing. At least the conversation had a point, even if it was a stupid one. 

He saw Evie's eyes drift toward the door, and he followed them to see Gallant, who stared his grandmother down as he picked up a glass of water, settling beside Judas on the couch. "Surprised to see me breathing, Nana?" he asked. "They usually shoot people for fucking. Or... did you not remember that when you turned me in?" Judas raised an eyebrow. Who had Gallant slept with besides him? 

"No hard feelings, darling," Evie replied with a smile. "I want to live, and the only way to achieve that is to get rid of these ten little Indians who stand between me and that golden ticket out of here."

"Um, we're sitting right here," Coco stated.

Evie ignored Coco, looking at her grandson. "It's not my fault that you can't control your carnal urges."

Gallant shook his head, fire burning in his eyes as he looked at her. "You have lived! I... haven't."

Evie leaned forward to meet his eye. "Oh, yes, you have." She got to her feet slowly, and Gallant did that same. "You have crammed ten lifetimes of failures and screwups into your thirty years!"

"Am I the only one who makes mistakes?" Gallant addressed the room. "Hmm?"

"No," Evie said. "But I'm always the one that has to clean up after you. Let me see. Three stints in rehab on my dime. Fancy lawyers to keep you out of prison. When your grandfather rejected you because of your perverted lifestyle, I took you in. And what did I get back?" She let out a rueful chuckle. "Yes, you went and you bankrupted to salons and then you snorted the third one up your nose." She looked to the others. "I deserve to live. I am the bridge between the past and the future. I mean, when those poor survivors arrive, what do they know about culture and music and art? And I will be there to tell them all about it." Looking at Gallant again, her voice turned cold. "One lifetime of me is worth fifty of yours. Humanity may be in a sorry state, but it deserves better than you."

Gallant took a shuddering breath. "I should have put you in that motion picture home years ago," he stated. "The only thing I ever wanted from you was for you to love me and accept me. Why couldn't you just give me that?"

Evie was still smiling. "Sorry, darling. It's just not in my nature." She patted his cheek before she left the sitting room.

Coco hesitated. "Well, it's a good thing you convinced me to bring your nana," she stated.

Judas shook his head. Sometimes Coco really needed to learn not to speak.