Futurama

Fry's Return, Part 5
By Silverwolf

Introduction: I'd like to say to my little fan club that follows my writing: I'm SO sorry I took forever to get this out. I've been so busy and also suffereing from a case of common writer's block. I also hope this turns out to be as good as you hoped. The more you anticipate something, the better you expect it to be, so I just hope nobody's disappointed. Well, enjoy!

Michelle stood in her kitchen eating toast. She looked at her watch. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, just about.... now, she thought.  Perfectly on cue, an alarm went off and Fry awoke with a jump.

He yawned, picked up the alarm clock on his side, and though nothing of throwing it out the window.

"Michelle?", Fry said, still not completely awake.

Michelle walked over to him in her sly way.

"Good morning, Phil. I got a call last night about going into work early this morning, and I set that alarm to make sure I could see you before I go.  I just can't go that long without you, and I hate to wake you up myself while you're sleeping so peacefully."

Michelle playfully ran her fingers through Fry's hair.

"Aww, thanks Mich.", Fry said and the couple kissed.

"I'm off to work, see you later...", Michelle smiled and headed out the door. As soon as the door was closed, she ducked to the side and snickered. Michelle really didn't have to go into work early -- she wasn't due for two hours.  This was the perfect oppertunity to 'check in' on Fry, she didn't know what was going on with this Lola girl, and figured the two of them had something to hide. She was determined to find out what it was. Nobody steals boyfriends -- even lousy ones -- from me, Michelle thought to herself. She took a cup, put it to the wall, put her ear on it to listen, and waited...

Fry and Leela went on as normal, and Michelle was getting to the point where she'd fall asleep leaning on the door until...

"So, do we actually have the ingredient needed to complete the mission?", Leela spoke up.

"Oh, damn, I completely forgot...", Fry answered as the though hit him.

"You thought we were here for a lesure vacation?", Leela chuckled as Fry rooted through the refrigerator.

"Diet soy non-falvored heath cola?! What is this?! I'll try to remember to pick up a couple cans of the real stuff after work...."

Michelle didn't quite know what to make of this conversation... maybe this Laurla had pulled Fry into a cult! They mentioned  'vacation', suggesting Fry and/or purple hair girl would be leaving soon. She'd start up a conversation about that when Fry got home. Michelle heard them coming, and she quickly ducked out of sight.

Later that day...

Leela and Fry arrived back at Michelle's apartment feeling good from an afternoon of sight-seeing in New York.

"Three hundred and seventy-eight pigeons. Wow.", Leela commented. "I'm surprised they don't collapse the city with all these old-fashioned designed buildings."

Fry smiled a little and they entered the apartment. Michelle was vacuuming.

"Spring cleaning? It's December...", Fry commented and Leela wrinkled her nose at the ancient tecnology.

"Well, I thought it could use a little sprucing up. After all, this is such a dump, and you and... her are staying here for a while.", Michelle replied with her common sly tone as she unplugged the vacuum.

"Aw, this place is great! Much better than mine was.", Fry said as he walked to the other side of the room.

"You're sweet. But it's falling apart around us."

"Come, on Michelle, you've got a great apartment here!", Fry said enthusiastically as he slapped the window sill.  What happened next went so fast it's hard to describe. 

Fry's eyes widened as the sound of wood cracking came to his ears. The window sill and a good chunk of the wall broke beneath him causing Fry to stumble and lose his balence over the multiple story drop below!! Suddenly, he completely lost his footing, slipped, and luckily grabed hold of the wall by one hand but still slipping from his grasp! Michelle watched in fear; this was far from her intentions. 

"FRY!!!", she yelled out and ran towards the side of the room, but in the moment of chaos slipped on a floor rug and went hurtling towards the steep drop! Stumbling out the hole where the window used to be and flailing her arms wildly to grab onto the only thing she could reach -- Fry's ankles, which jerked Fry down and almost caused him to let go of his hold on the side of the wall.

Leela, who heard the screaming and shuffling, ran into the room and on the scene. There was Fry, clinging to a jagged edge of where a window in a wall once was, and straining to support the weight of himself and Michelle.  Leela had to think fast. If she got a foothold on the window below, then she could push the two back up. But wait, scaling the side of a building with her large dark glasses? She couldn't do that. But if she took them off, Michelle, or even worse somebody on the street below might see her!

"Aaeellp.", was all Fry could manage to say while struggling and losing his grip.

What was I thinking?! Leela though to herself, and collected up all the bravery she had, forgetting about her own fears. Leela took off her dark glasses and the green coat she was wearing. Knowing she didn't have much time, Leela ran to the where the window used to be and looked down... long drop. The perfect foot hold, a window planter, she spotted on the floor below and managed to lower herself down onto it. She then scaled the cracks in the side of the wall to position herself beside Michelle, urging her over to grab hold on another windowsill and pushing Fry up. Fry got a good two-hand hold on the rug of Michelle's apartment and pulled himself up. He then helped Leela up, and the two of them caught their breath.

"Oh, Leela, thanks, you saved my life... what number is this one?", Fry said out of breath.

"I believe this is time 23."

The two of them shared a smile.

"Aren't you forgetting something?!?!?! AAAHHH!!!!!", Michelle screamed and Leela realized she had left her clinging to the building.

"Don't panic...", Leela said and she leaned over the edge again, extending a hand to Michelle, and helping to pull her up. Michelle was shook-up, greatful to Leela, and ready to forgive, she opened her mouth to say so but her breath was taken away when she took a good look at Leela's bare face. Michelle jumped back, completely taken by surprise and she saw the single large eye on Leela's forhead.

"What's wrong with you?!", she stammered.

Leela's good feeling that Fry and Michelle were safe was gone and replaced by an awful horrible sinking feeling. She'd just revealed her secret. "I... I...", was all Leela could say.

Michelle was shaking. All the pieces of the puzzle were starting to come together to make one big confusing freaky picture.

"What the hell is going on?!", Michelle screamed. Fry stood up and approached her.

"Mich, calm down, calm down... you're over-reacting"

"I want an explanation and I want it now."

"Okay, okay..", Fry sighed. "You may not believe this, but... I've kinda sorta been to the future..." Michelle stared with a blank look on her face as Fry continued. "It's a complicated story, and sometimes I don't even believe it's true. But, in a nutshell, Leela's an alien, and we've been sent back here in the past to..."

Michelle ran to the phone. "I don't know what's going on here, but you're insane, and whatever-she-is over there is... I don't know!"

Fry leaped over and slammed the phone into the receiver.

"Please, you can't tell anyone. If anybody finds out about me and Leela, especially Leela, who knows what could happen. Whether you believe my story or not, just don't tell anyone... please..."

Michelle dove for the phone again and Fry restrained her. Michelle broke free and moved away.

"Whatever you're doing here, freak, I might not know the whole story, but I... I... I can't believe this. Fry, what's happened to you?!", giving the most hateful look possible to Leela, Michelle stormed out the door. Silence.

"That was awkward....", Fry said with mixed emotions.

"I'm sorry....", Leela said in a weak voice, unable to look him in the eye. "I ruined every thing." Leela felt tears forming in her eye and she ran from the room. Fry sighed and hung his head, then went after Leela.  She sat on the edge of the guest bed, feeling sorry for herself and studying her boots. Fry entered.

"Hi..." was all he said as he sat beside Leela. His voice was sympathetic and she knew he couldn't fake that tone.

"Hi....", Leela said and looked away from him. But she trusted Fry, and found herself opening up to him. "I'm so sorry, I ruined everything...", she repeated.

"No you didn't...", Fry said softly.

Leela turned to look at Fry. Tears were falling now.

"Yes I did! It's my fault we've had to hide here, and you had to protect me. Because of me we've been revealed, save yourself, I'll be turned in and accept my fate... Michelle's right, I am a freak..." Leela said as she let out emotions she'd been bottling up since they came back to the past.

Fry looked Leela straight in the face.

"Leela... you're blaming yourself for something nobody could control... you know, something I've learned from being different on the year 3000 scene, is that you can't control how you look, or when you were born. You were handed it, and you have to get over it. Take a human, and put them on... I dunno some alien planet and they'll feel the same way."

"Thanks, Fry..." Leela said. In the moment, Fry realized he'd put his arm around Leela, and he quickly removed after flashbacks of  'Take your hands off me!', but Leela actally encouraged him and he held her.

"I feel bad that such a little thing could rule your life... you know, I'm here of you want to talk..." Fry felt Leela sigh in his arms.  She pulled away a little to look Fry in the face.

"That's really nice... I don't think any guy has ever said that to me." She paused for a moment. "But what about Michelle?! She'll reveal me and that'll be the end of that..."

"Don't worry. If I know my Michelle, she'll walk around the city fuming for a while, then she'll be back. Plus she has no real evidence, and she can't get it because when she comes back we'll be gone."

"Gone to where?"

"I wish I knew."

Fry and Leela solumly packed up the few belongings they had with them, and got ready to leave. Fry found a pen and some post-it notes, where he worked on his goodbye to Michelle...

Michelle--

Sorry things had to go this way, and I wish we could of had a better goodbye. I don't know when I'll see you again, but probably not for a while. Thanks for letting us stay here, and I'll miss you.

Phil

He stuck it on the refrigerator and took a walk through Michelle's apartment for most likely the last time, while doing so he noticed a picture hanging on the wall, of him and Michelle sharing ice cream in Central Park. He wished things would just go back to the way they were, but they couldn't. Before they left, Fry took the picture out of it's frame, concealed it in his pocket, and then joined Leela who was waiting for him at the door. As they left, nobody said anything. Fry's mind was filled with thoughts of this century and mostly Michelle... she did dump him, wasn't very faithful, and didn't trust him much... but for some reason Fry missed her.  They had a good relationship for a while before it fell apart. 

Fry and Leela walked New New York's streets side by side. Leela could tell Fry was really deep in thought, an expression she rarely saw from him. She considered him to be more of a shallow person. They went down into the subways, and Fry managed to scrape together his and Leela's fare for a ride across the city.

"Are you sure this is safe....", Leela said with disgust as she examined the subway car.

"We don't have a much of a choice, here. Consider it a really slow tube system."

They took their seats and tried to take their minds off their situation, thus there wasn't much conversation as the train rolled on.  Things got a little "rough" as the subway started to shake a little. Leela was reminded of turbulance from a meteor shower the PE ship had endured once. It seemed as though it was going over rocks and waving violently back and forth at the same time. Leela gritted her teeth.  Suddenly, the car came to a noisy and sharp halt.

"Was that supposed to happen?", Leela whispered to Fry and all he could give her was a worried glance.

A voice came over the intercom. "We seem to have hit some problems, there's damage on the track and the vehicle is stuck. Unfortunatly, folks, this happened at the worst possible time; our maitnence team is on strike. We might be stuck down here until way into tomorrow...."

There was protests from everybody as Fry and Leela looked at each other in horror.

"We're going to miss the porthole back to the future..."

One more part coming. When it'll come, I have no clue... don't lose faith, though!