Work Text:
“Man when you break protocol you really just throw the entire manual out, don’t you?” Mike laughed.
Edgar smirked, “I mean if one of us got a concussion I would still follow protocol.”
Mike was lying on Edgar’s green polka dotted picnic blanket and staring up at clouds that looked like mountains of whipped cream, looking more relaxed than Edgar had seen him in months. When they’d first come up with Operation You Only Live Twice, Mike had been laser focused on the necessities. Anything that wasn’t expressly working towards that was a distraction.
Knowing Mike the way he did, Edgar worried this was an indication of just how much he was suffering. His Mikey-Bear could be efficient when it was required of him, sure, but he was also a creature of comfort and pleasure. Watching Mike run himself into the ground, Edgar knew that this sort of intense focus and pressure was unsustainable. He had decided to give Mike 48 hours to do things his way. After that Edgar would gently suggest a less maniacal approach.
Unfortunately Edgar ended up regretting giving Mike even that long when Mike imploded almost exactly 36 hours into planning. He’d crumpled into Edgar’s arms, sobs racking his body unable to articulate exactly why he was in so much distress. The only good thing from this was that Edgar was ready with ideas on how to proceed with planning and even give them both a bit of time to relax.
Being the one who literally wrote the book on how to responsibly use the calculators and engage in time travel, Edgar rarely broke protocol. But these were desperate times. And he couldn’t just watch the love of his life suffer when he could help make this process so much gentler.
On the face of it Edgar’s plan was fairly straight forward. A vacation to Glacier National Park. It’d been ages since they’d both been there together and neither of them had enjoyed a proper vacation in months. The twist, because of course there was a twist, was that they would go back in time six months to take this vacation and pop back into their time when they were done with all the necessary elements of their plan, seemingly never having left at all.
This bit was incredibly important for a couple reasons. For one thing an unscheduled two week trip to Glacier would mess with Base’s planned missions and their monitoring of Early Base. But on a more relative note to their plans, it was also important that Michael be completely unaware of Operation You Only Live Twice. Doing most of the planning from Glacier, six months prior to Mike’s unscheduled home visit, was an additional precaution. Just as important, they didn’t want Michael to know just how long Mike was actually going to be away. From Michael’s perspective, no matter what, Mike would return home five days from when he left Satellite Base.
Edgar insisted that the first three days of their trip they do nothing but actual vacation related activities. He brought Mike breakfast in bed, they drove the Going-to-the-Sun Road, went for an easy hike, and shared beers under the stars.
It seemed to help. But even as Mike’s muscles relaxed and his easy laughter returned, Edgar saw Mike picking at his food. No matter what was put in front of him, Mike’s usual enthusiasm for a good meal had been diminished.
After those first three days they spent their mornings and early afternoons finalizing their plans and the late afternoon onward enjoying their vacation. With only three days left in their stay they had yet to agree on two specific points.
The first sticking point was whether to go to the Flinchites, to Ty specifically, for assistance with protecting their actions from any possible corrections on Michael’s part. Edgar was loath to give that man any additional access to Mike than he already had. And he didn’t like the idea of owing Ty Fucking Betteridge any favors.
The second was at what point in time to iterate Mike from. Mike kept pushing to iterate prior to the beginning of his relationship with Michael, insisting that it was best for Edgar. It’s possible that Mike really believed that, but Edgar suspected that more than anything, Mike thought that any Mike Walters who’d fallen for someone else - even one who was still deeply in love with Edgar - didn’t deserve to be with Edgar.
Edgar on the other hand couldn’t fathom iterating from any point in time except now, ideally right before Mike returned home to Latvia. They may all be his Mikey Bears but if they iterated before Mike and Michael’s relationship began and brought that iteration forward in time to now, that would mean Edgar’s Mike would have leapfrogged over four months.
It would mean that all those home visits from the past few months would never have happened for him. Every date, every good morning kiss, every joke they’d shared, every night that Edgar had pressed Mike back against their bed and watched his eyes close - all of it would never have happened for Edgar’s Mike. And losing that, losing those moments, even the difficult ones, felt like a loss worth grieving over. Worth fighting for.
They’d argued about this second point all day, blowing past their usual 2 PM stopping point. Around dinnertime Edgar had called a truce and suggested using the calculator to go back a few hours in the day and have a picnic at Lake McDonald to unwind. Edgar could tell Mike had been gearing up to argue but then he seemed to deflate and just nodded.
He’d insisted that Mike take a shower first, knowing it would relax him and help break the unending cycle of thoughts spinning around in his head. While Mike did that, Edgar popped back to the fourth day of Mike’s home visit to fire off a text to Michael with an update on how Mike was doing and waited for any response. He had to wait almost a full thirty minutes for Michael to get back to him.
Thanks for keeping me informed. Take care of each other, Panther.
Edgar frowned at this. He knew his Mikeys. This was defeat.
Edgar shot off We’ll have him back to you in no time, cowboy ❤️ , while huffing in frustration. No matter the Mikey-Bear, they never thought they deserved good things.
After a quick check in with Anne, he popped back to Glacier, packed up the picnic basket, and waited for Mike to finish his shower.
Now, watching Mike appreciate the natural majesty around him, looking thinner than he should, Edgar felt a swell of love and protectiveness. “I can’t do it,” he blurted, not meaning to say it out loud. Mike propped himself up on his elbows to look at Edgar, his expression blank. “Not if you’re going to iterate from before you and Michael were together. I can’t do any of it unless you agree on this one thing. I’ll even agree to requesting help from Betteridge, so long as I accompany you. But the iteration is from right before you return to Latvia.”
Mike swallowed, looking lost. “Why? Why would you want that?”
Edgar blinked, bewildered. “Because I love you. And this, all of this, is something I did with the man that I love.”
Mike shuddered and Edgar moved closer to him, gently pushing him to lie back down on the blanket. Edgar bent to kiss him, starting off so gentle but growing insistent. Edgar heard a soft whimper escape Mike’s throat, and Edgar shuddered in response. Edgar pulled back to meet Mike’s gaze and murmured, “I’m so lucky.”
A tear streamed down Mike’s face and he turned his face away, looking ashamed. Edgar grabbed his chin, firm but not rough, and turned Mike’s face to look at him. “I mean it, Bear. I’m incredibly lucky.”
Mike launched himself up to capture Edgar’s mouth and pulled him down on top of himself. Edgar’s hands grabbed Mike’s wrists and pushed them back into the blanket as he broke their kiss to nip at Mike’s neck.
“Take me back to the cabin before I get charged with public indecency,” Mike rasped and Edgar obliged, a grin on his face.
Later that night, Edgar woke to find Mike staring at the ceiling, one arm behind his head. Edgar turned on his side to look at him and ran a hand through Mike’s chest hair. Mike closed his eyes, taking comfort in the sensation.
“What’s going through your head?” Edgar demanded.
“Okay.”
Edgar squinted in the darkness, trying to better see Mike’s expression to get a sense of his mood. “Okay, what?”
Mike sighed heavily and said, “I agree to your terms. We’ll have you make the iteration from now-ish. Your Mike will have experienced basically everything. I have one exception and I hope you can find your way to agreeing because it would mean a lot to me.”
Edgar hesitated before replying, “I think so long as it’s not from before our experience of this vacation we can likely come to an agreement.”
Mike nodded, his hand resting on top of Edgar’s, weaving their fingers together and bringing it to his lips. “Alright then. I think we have our plan.”
***************
Mike appeared in the living room of the empty apartment next door to his and Michael’s, the door slamming shut behind Michael’s retreating back.
From the kitchen he heard, “Uhh, anyone gonna untie me?”
Mike took a moment to get his bearings before hurrying into the kitchen.
Mikey looked up at him relieved, “Thank god you came back. I thought you were going to leave me here.”
Without a word Mike took out the calculator and put in the appropriate coordinates.
“Where are-?” Mikey asked before disappearing.
As Mike quickly put in his own coordinates he heard, “For fucks sake Mike, we ARE doing this for real!” boom from the neighboring apartment and winced. And then Mike was in a transport room back at Base, Edgar kneeling in front of the hogtied Mikey. He stood up once he realized Mike was there.
He could see that Edgar was going to have a hard time with this part and Mike couldn’t blame him.
“What the hell is going on?” Mikey asked, craning his neck to try to look at them both.
Edgar moved so that he was standing close to Mike.
“You don’t have to come for this,” Mike assured him. “I can do this part on my own.”
Edgar shook his head, adamant. “You are not going there without me. I will not allow it.”
Edgar took Mike’s hand and pecked him on the cheek. “Ready when you are, Bear.”
Mike nodded, hit the button on the calculator, and then they were in front of the Flinchite compound. Mike pointed a gun at the hogtied Mikey’s head and waited. Edgar, still holding Mike’s free hand, raised his gun towards the side entrance to the building before them. They didn’t have to wait long before a serene looking Ty Betteridge exited the building, a polite smile on his face.
“That’s close enough,” Edgar barked, adjusting his aim on Ty for emphasis.
“Of course,” Ty replied genially, hands splayed before him in a gesture of peace. “What’s brought about this visit?”
Mike snorted, “Don’t play coy. You hogtied this Mikey and sent him to the apartment next door to me and Michael.”
It wasn’t a question. The more Mike had thought about it, the more he was sure that Michael hadn’t been lying.
Ty raised an eyebrow and his pleasant smile grew. “Well someone else handled the hogtying, not really my strong suit, but yes, he was a gift from me to you, Mike.”
Mike heard Edgar scoff, and Mike chanced a warning glance at him. Edgar gave a small aggravated sniff but otherwise remained steady.
“I have two requests for you,” Mike pushed on.
Ty’s smile very nearly became a smirk but he managed to convey benign curiosity. “I’m sure I’ll be happy to help if I’m able.”
“First, there’s an event we need to protect-”
“The time duplicate you made of yourself before leaving Glacier National Park? I assume your duplicate’s waiting back at Base like a good little Mike.”
Mike stopped breathing for a moment. “Fuck.”
“This isn’t the first time we’ve done this, then?” Edgar asked, sounding furious.
“It’s only the second,” Ty assured, with a dismissive little hand wave. “Hopefully the last.”
Mike rolled his eyes, “Well, then? Will you help?”
Ty seemed to consider Mike, then Edgar. “Yes, on the condition you submit to monthly, non-invasive check ups with our medical team,.”
Mike could see Edgar shaking his head in his periphery.
“Routine stuff, nothing you wouldn’t get at a routine annual physical. That’s all.”
“Too open ended,” Edgar snapped before Mike could respond.
Ty considered this, “Twelve visits over the course of one full calendar year. No time travel shenanigans.”
“You won’t make any iterations of me,” Mike insisted.
Ty shrugged, “We have no need to.”
Edgar let out a frustrated exhale but Mike knew what it meant. He was furious that they were making any concessions but he knew this was likely their best case scenario.
“Okay, you have a deal,” Mike affirmed.
Ty’s smile burst into a brilliant grin, “Wonderful, please feel free to send us the details- coordinates, dates, times, and the like- and we’ll make sure everything is sorted. If the cowboy tries to intervene, he’ll simply be redirected back home where he belongs. No funny business.”
“We’re not done,” Edgar snarled, his patience wearing thin.
Ty raised his eyebrows in inquiry. “Oh, there’s more? We didn’t get this far last time.”
“This belongs to you,” Mike said, gesturing with the gun at the hogtied Mikey.
Mikey’s eyes went wide, “No, Mike, you can’t-”
Ty frowned, “He’s not really useful to us anymore I’m afraid.”
“Well either you take him back or I put a bullet in his brain right here,” Mike spat.
Ty sighed.
Mikey was looking back at Mike in horror and Mike felt sick. “Mike please,” he whispered.
“I suppose we can try to find some utility for him if it’s that important to you,” Ty replied, sounding entirely put upon.
“God, please Mike, shoot me. Shoot me in the head now. FOR FUCK’S SAKE MIKE,” Mikey begged, his voice getting louder as he realized his fate, his eyes wide with fear. “Don’t do this, don’t send me back. Have some fucking mercy and put that bullet in my brain now. Panther, please-” and Mikey was gone, back inside the compound presumably.
Ty gave them a polite smile. “Does that conclude our meeting?”
*********
When they arrived back at Base, Anne was there waiting for them. Edgar and Mike stared at each other, neither able to speak.
“That bad?” Anne asked with a grimace.
Edgar nodded. He moved closer to Mike and went to put a hand on his arm but Mike flinched away, “Don’t touch me.”
“Any injuries?” Anne asked. The question was directed at Edgar but she was eyeing Mike like he was a wounded animal, fearful and likely to strike out.
“No. Where’s Mike? The other Mike I mean, the one who is staying with us,” Edgar asked. In the end they’d decided to do the iteration from their last day in Glacier together. Mike had been insistent that Edgar’s Mike not experience handling the compound Mikey. Edgar was grateful for Mike’s forethought and compassion in this regard. No one deserved to have these memories. Plus, since their vacation took place six months in current Base’s past, it added another layer of obfuscation.
“I sent him upstairs. I thought you two could use a minute. He going through his own stuff at the moment anyway,” Anne murmured, eyes flitting from Edgar to Mike and back.
Of course. Edgar’s Mike would be coming to terms with the end of his relationship with Michael. Edgar pushed down the urge to go check on him, reminding himself he’d have plenty of time to help his Mike through his grief. Right now he needed to focus on the Mike in front of him. The Mike who would be returning to Latvia. To Michael.
The Mike before him was shaking, tears streaming down his face. “Ty has done this to Michael countless times,” he whispered, his voice shaking with rage and heartache.
Edgar took Mike in his arms and this time Mike let him. “I know, Bear.”
Anne joined the hug, wrapping her arms around Mike from the other side. “There was no good choice, Mike. Blame the person who made sure that the only options available would all be ones that hurt.”
Not for the first time Edgar was grateful for Anne’s calm logic. He was still reeling from seeing Mikey like that. He’d known going into it that this part would be hard but there was only so much he could do to prepare. He didn’t see how Mike would be able to return to Latvia today. Not after that.
“You should stay a few days. Let us take care of you for a bit before you go home,” Edgar cajoled.
Mike pulled out of the group hug, wiping at his face. “No, I can’t stick around. I don’t want to come between you and your Mike.”
“You wouldn’t-”
“I know me,” Mike insisted ruefully. “You’re the understanding one in this relationship. I’d probably deck me if I thought I was trying to steal you back.”
Anne and Edgar exchanged looks of confusion.
Mike shook his head, “I- you know what I mean.”
Edgar sighed and looked over at Anne, one eyebrow raised.
“Base is empty most of the day yesterday,” Anne told him, and Edgar nodded.
Before Mike realized what they were doing, Anne had plugged in the coordinates and they were gone.
They were standing in the same room, in the same spot, but the light was different. It was late morning instead of afternoon. And it was yesterday.
Mike glanced around, looking almost nervous.
Edgar took Mike’s face in his hands, “We are going to spend the next several hours enjoying the time we have left. And then, I am going to kiss you goodbye and wish you well.”
Mike took a shaking breath and closed his eyes before finally nodding.
********
Edgar had tried to convince Mike to wait a few more days, even going so far as to point out the weight he’d lost over the past two and a half weeks.
“The cowboy isn’t stupid, he's going to notice,” Edgar argued.
“As far as Michael knows, we just had our worst fight ever. I said terrible things to him and all for something he actually didn’t do. I’m pretty sure my supposed weight loss will be the last thing on his mind.”
Mike wasn’t actually confident that he was right about that. But he needed to go. He needed a clean break now, while he still had the strength to go through with the plan. Because the longer he put it off, the more impossible it felt to say goodbye to Edgar. This was the last time Edgar would ever be his. From here on out Edgar belonged to someone else.
He knew that in time that would be okay. That someday it would almost feel right. He could envision a future in which he and Michael could visit Edgar and Base Mike without all the strife. But that would be the work of time. And the only way through was to live it.
They’d spent their last day together watching movies, making love, and reminiscing. But at the end of the evening Mike had kissed Edgar goodbye and watched him as he entered the coordinates and sent Mike back to Latvia.
“Fuck,” Mike muttered, almost falling backwards as he appeared in the living room of the Latvia apartment. He was met with silence. Good. Mike needed to shower and reset before he faced Michael. He needed to get his game face on. Or at least not be a sniveling mess.
Mike let himself cry in the shower. He mourned the loss of Edgar. He agonized over the compound Mikey, seeing his horrified expression over and over in that moment when he realized what was happening.
But after a while his breathing calmed and he thought of Michael’s strong hands and wolfish grin. He remembered the way Michael would look at him sometimes, as if he couldn’t believe Mike actually wanted him - him, not just his body. That genuine wonder and disbelief was something so familiar to Mike’s own experience that sometimes when he thought about it he ached for Michael, that he should ever feel unworthy.
He didn’t leave the shower until the water started to run cool, but by then he thought he might be ready.
Drying his hair, he stumbled into his and Michael’s bedroom.
“Hey, Partner.”
Mike dropped the towel he’d been using to dry his hair. He took in Michael, leaning against the bureau and waiting for Mike. For a moment he couldn’t breathe, his heart felt so full.
And for just a moment he knew, without question, that he was going to be okay. They both were. They all were.
Eventually.