Disclaimer: Hex and its characters do not belong to me. They are the property of SkyOne and the BBC.
Author's Note: This is my first foray into writing fan fiction so please be gentle with me. I love the relationship between Cassie and Azazeal but I've always found them to be slightly OOC when it comes to the fiction about them on here, so I thought I'd give it a shot and see if I could get them together while staying true to their personalities. I was inspired by Orokiah's "The Spell You Keep Casting" because I felt that it kept them really in character and got me thinking about how things could have gone a little differently if there were a few more mitigating circumstances in episode five of season one.
Also, the first chapter of this is going to be quite similar to M. Love's "Control My Fate" because I loved how she built on the interaction between Troy and Cassie about the baby but I wanted to see more of it so Troy will hang around a bit longer with me.
Please excuse the amount of dialogue from the actual show but I didn't feel that I could leave it out without doing an injustice to the interaction. This should be the only instance where this much dialogue from the show appears. Enjoy and please review!
The taxi was late. Cassie sighed as she craned her neck to look down the road out the gate, hoping to see the taxi rumbling its way toward the school.
"Perhaps that's it?" Thelma pointed to a small cloud of dust rising from the road.
Squinting her eyes against the glare of the sun Cassie peered at the vehicle coming towards them. Her heart dropped to her feet as she recognized the tan fiesta pulling through the gate. She wished it was the taxi. She sighed as it pulled through the gate and came to a stop across the car park.
"That's all I need." Cassie said as Troy parked and stepped out of his car. He spotted her across the drive and motioned her over.
"Do you want me to distract him? I do a grade one haunting." Thelma wiggled her fingers in Troy's direction.
Cassie shook her head, "Wish me luck."
She adjusted her bag to disguise her belly so this wouldn't be any worse than it was already going to be. She walked toward Troy so that they could talk in relative privacy. This was one conversation she didn't want an audience for even it was only Thelma. She gave Troy a kind of grimacing smile and self consciously pushed a strand of hair behind her ear as she approached.
"You look awful." Troy's mouth twitched as if he wanted to smile but knew it wouldn't go over well.
"Thanks." Brows knitting in annoyance she dropped the tentative smile and frowned at him a little.
"What's up?" Troy said.
Cassie looked away as she gave Troy some excuse about not feeling well. Trying to come up with a quick way out of this conversation was becoming difficult. Maybe if she just made small talk he'd take the hint and leave her alone.
"Look, I'm really sorry about all that's happened."
"Troy, I really don't have time right now – "
"Cassie! I've just spent five hours on the M6 the least you can do is hear me out."
Cassie shut her mouth against another protest. Maybe if he got it out of his system she could get out of here quicker. Once she got this over with she could apologize to Troy later. Right now all she wanted to was to get to the hospital as soon as possible. Where was that taxi?
"Look I've been going over things in my head and we shouldn't break up. I know I scared you, I got too into you too quickly and I'm sorry. I know I freaked you out."
How could she explain that she had more important things to worry about now than a boy who'd gotten too attached? Not that that had been the real problem anyway. Out of all the men in her life Troy was the best of a bad bunch. His affection hadn't been triggered by possession after all. At least she knew that he'd cared for her truly, even if he'd handled her subsequent reactions a little badly. But what boy wouldn't have reacted the same way?They could have been good together but she knew that they weren't meant to be. She couldn't risk getting him hurt and despite her reservations when it came to Azazeal she had to admit that Troy didn't make her feel the same depth of emotion, positive or otherwise, that Azazeal did.
"Troy it's not that…" Troy jerked his head and waved a hand to stop her protest.
"Let me finish. I got all possessive and I shouldn't have. It was only because I really like you. I can't stop thinking about you."
Cassie frowned; this was just what she needed, someone else clinging to her. Having to deal with Azazeal was bad enough but she didn't know if she could handle Troy in addition to everything else. He was nice but this whole ordeal had only served to highlight the bad idea that had included getting involved with Troy in the first place. Maybe if she let him down easy he wouldn't take it so hard. She just couldn't handle him right now.
"It's not that simple Troy."
"I made a mistake! Cassie please?"
"Troy! Ugh, it's impossible to explain. I don't know, maybe it just wasn't meant to be? She shook the hair out of her eyes and eyed him apologetically.
"I'm sorry but it really is better this way." She to walk away but Troy grabbed her arm, halting her. Her bag shifted as she turned back toward him revealing her bump. He glanced down at her stomach, eyes wide as he realized the implication of her stomach.
Shit! She thought and scrambled for an excuse that would distract him from the truth.
"It's Christmas, I've been binge eating."
"You're pregnant." Troy shook his head.
"No."
"You should have told me."
"I'm not." Anger crept into her tone. Of course he would assume that it was his. It would certainly be easier if it were but now she was going to hurt him even more because she didn't know how to convince him otherwise and she couldn't tell him the truth.
"Look, I'm cool with it. It's just a shock. I mean I suppose if I was going to have a kid with anyone then I –"
"It's not yours. I'm sorry" She couldn't let him assume that this baby was his. Even though she wasn't keeping it he could still be put in danger. Cassie frowned at the thought of what Azazeal would do to Troy if he formed an attachment to their child. She didn't want Troy to get hurt and that was almost guaranteed if he kept the idea of this baby as his. Troy's confused expression nearly broke her heart. She didn't love him anymore but it was painful to watch him realize that she had slept with someone else.
"Whose is it?"
She froze as she tried to think of a way to explain without seeming crazy. How to explain that she pregnant with a demon's child? She could picture Thelma behind her with her fingers on either side of her head like devil horns, making a twisted face. She smothered an inappropriate giggle at the image. Troy took her silence as an admission.
"It is mine. I know it's mine."
"It's not. Please don't do this."
"Then tell me who? Whose is it, if it's not mine?"
"Why does it matter?"
"Because I want to know who ruined my life!"
"I can't do this." Cassie pulled away from him but Troy just held onto her arm more tightly. She looked around for a distraction. They were alone in the car park except for Thelma and she wouldn't be much help since only Cassie could see her.
"Let go of me Troy." She pulled against his grip but he was stronger. He pulled her close.
"I love you! Don't lie to me Cassie. I know it's my child." He leaned down and pressed his mouth to hers. She struggled against him, pushing wildly at his chest and twisting her face away. He put a hand behind her head to hold her in place and pressed his mouth harshly against hers. She could hear Thelma screaming at Troy from behind them. Troy's other hand slid down her back to press her stomach against his lower body. She gasped as he pressed his fingers against a tender spot near her spine and he took the opportunity to invade her mouth with his tongue. She bit down on him as hard as she dared.
"Dammit Cassie!" He pulled back but kept her close to his body. She began to struggle again, pushing him backward.
"Troy stop! Let me go!"
A honking horn interrupted her before she could say anything else. Both of them turned toward the noise. Troy loosened his hold on her. It was the taxi. The driver got out of the car and walked toward them. He was a large muscular man, taller than Troy and he had a suspicious look on his face as he regarded them.
"Is everything alright?"
"No!" Cassie pulled away from Troy while his grip was relaxed and dashed toward the cab. "Get me out of here! I'm the one who ordered the taxi."
"Cassie Hughes? For the hospital?Get in."
Troy stood shell shocked as Cassie was escorted by the cabbie around to the passenger side and opened the back door for he. The cabbie's words penetrated the fog in his brain just as the door closed on Cassie.
"Hospital? Cassie! You can't do this! It's my child!"
The cabbie sneered at Troy as he got back into the driver's seat.
He eyed Troy with disgust as he pulled out of the car park. Cassie sighed as she settled back into the seat.
"Well that was a bit of a cock up wasn't it?" Cassie jumped at Thelma's voice.
"I snuck in while you and Troy staring at the driver like he had two heads. I'd rather not walk to hospital if it's all the same."
"Thanks." Cassie stared out the window as they drove down the road toward town. She was glad she had Thelma for this, she might have been panicking right now otherwise. Hopefully this strange pregnancy would be over soon. Her hand unconsciously rubbed along her stomach as she thought of the appointment. Soon it would be over and she could get on with her life.