Michael Vey One Shots

Guilt (Requested)

Michael sat down in the uncomfortable chair by Taylor's bed. Looking at the cast on her right leg and the various cuts all over her body, he felt the guilt now more than ever. He lightly traced her jawline, feeling her consciously lean into his touch in her sleep. He blinked as he felt tears threaten to fall down his cheeks. It proved to be useless when he looked around the room, seeing his friends in similar conditions. Some were worse, some not so much. It didn't matter that he had a huge gash on his cheek, or a bandaged arm. He wasn't one of the people lying down in a hospital bed at the moment. And it was all his fault.

He laid his head on Taylor's bed, his hand already having found hers, and cried.

What has he done?

|-|-|-|

Four Hours Earlier

"It's your choice, Vey. The children, or your friends?"

Hatch laughed as the signal cut off. Michael pulsed and broke the radio. It was no use now.

Three minutes. Two bombs. One choice.

Michael looked at his watch. Make that two minutes, forty-six seconds. He had to make a decision.

The first thing he needs to recognize, Hatch is liar. He could be bluffing about the whole thing, but, seeing as there were many lives at stake, Michael was not taking that chance.

Secondly, he now had two minutes and forty seconds to save either a classroom of first graders or his friends. If this were any other situation, he would choose his friends in a heartbeat. But he can not leave twenty-five six year-olds to die.

He chose to save the children.

Besides, Ostin was with his friends. He could probably figure out how to stop the bomb long before it detonates, right? And Ian was with them, he would be able to tell that there was a bomb hidden in the safe house.

Right?

Michael blocked those thoughts from his mind as he ran to the school bus, reaching it with one minute and twenty seconds left on the clock. He yelled at everyone to leave the bus and, thankfully, everyone listened. He raced to the blinking red light and did the procedure to stop it, hoping and praying that he was doing it right.

Five seconds left.

Unsure if he did it or not, he hugged the bomb to his chest in an attempt to stop the blast from being able to do that much damage and injuring the children outside.

It didn't go off.

Sighing in relief, Michael left the bus. Sirens could be heard and he assumed the bus driver called the police. In a haze, he explained to the bus driver some cover story for how he knew there was a bomb and stopped it. He couldn't even understand himself, too busy worrying about his friends.

|-|-|-|

Michael stirred as he heard someone softly shook him, saying his name. He groaned and sat up, realizing that he fell asleep crying.

"Michael."

He snapped his head toward the speaker and almost cried out in relief. "Taylor," he breathed out and hugged her, being mindful of her injuries. He gave her light kisses, talking in between each one. "I - love you - so much - please don't - scare me - like that - ever again."

"Get a room!"

Michael looked up to see everyone was awake, and they all saw him. But for the first time, he didn't care. He was so relieved to see that they were all okay.

Some people seemed to have been feeling better already, seeing as the missing occupants of a few beds were sitting on the edge of others'.

"I thought it was cute." Abi said.

"It was disgustingly cute," replied Nichelle.

Taylor interrupted them. "This isn't your fault, Michael." He realized that they were still holding hands. He quickly took his hand away, not wanting her to know what happened and to hate him for it. He immediately regretted it, though, when a look of hurt passed her face.

"Dude, how could this have been your fault?" Jack asked, not doubting for a second that Michael was just putting the blame on himself for no good reason.

They were all staring at him. He blinked. And gulped. "I . . . could have saved you guys. But I didn't."

Silence.

"I don't believe it." Ostin spoke up. Everyone agreed with him.

"Why don't you tell us what happened." Taylor said in a soft voice.

So he did.

Nichelle got up from the side of Abi's bed. She limped over to Michael. And slapped him.

"Ow!"

"This is not your fault, Vey. Anyone in that position would have done the same thing. And look around you, we're all fine!" She shushed him when he tried to say something. "Here's what happened. You left to scope out the area. As soon as you left, Ian saw the bomb. It was hidden near the door. Jack got it out and Ostin looked at it. Then it started counting down. We were all freaking out. Lover-girl over there," she pointed at Taylor, "was more worried about you than herself.

"Turns out the bomb needed a certain way to stop it. Ostin was trying to figure it out while Zeus and Jack were making a barricade with the furniture. We couldn't leave the house. As soon as you left there was this sort of trigger that made it so if anyone else left the bomb would go off. Thirty seconds left, Texas was still trying to figure it out. Jack grabbed him and they made it to the fort just in time before the bomb went boom."

Michael blinked. "That doesn't make me feel better."

"Too bad."

McKenna spoke up. "Michael, we just got hurt. If you would have chosen to save us, the first graders would have died. In my opinion, it's better that we got hurt than the alternative."

"But-"

"No buts. This wasn't your fault."

***

|A/N|

Requested by SeaWing! I hope you liked it! I couldn't really think of a different situation for you request. I'm sorry it's so late. And I'm sorry to all the other requests, as well.

Anyway, vote and comment and AHHHHH FALL OF HADES IS SO CLOSE

<3