Heads up to my adorable and patient beta sleepymr (my life savior)
When Katrina came into his life he imagined he could finally see colors, that she was his soulmate and they would be together forever. Oh, but how so very wrong he was, so very wrong. Nothing could have prepared him for the assault of colors he received as he woke up in this new era. The colors were alive, fresh, and coming out of everywhere.
He was so very surprised as he stared at his own hands, so different from the dull color he was used to seeing. His trousers were…what was that called? Was this the color brown his mother had told him about, oh, so many times?
Was this what Franklin had told him about?
The colors so full and vibrant, why and rather…how? He closed his eyes and thought how these colors were so different from what he had settled for with Katrina. They weren't muted or fogged, they were almost tasteful. And what in the world had been that thing on the ground or all those colors on the officer's' clothes? Also, what kind of trickery was this he was sitting on? He bet it was some devilish thing sent to get him.
He couldn't stop moving his hands in the sunlight just so he could see the flash of - what was this color? - catch in his eye. This was ridiculous. He was being detained for whatever reason the officer had told him and also being committed and to make matters worse there was no one in this era coming to vouch for him. Outrageous!
Abbie had never particularly trusted the color soulmate system, it was quite the bullshit thing for this lieutenant. But as she talked to her mentor and friend August Corbin as he gently ate his pie and ice-cream, suddenly there was something awkward about it. She wasn't particularly fond of even learning the name of the colors, even though her mother had told her countless times how the light of the sun shone brightly in her dark curly hair and almond skin.
"Corbin?" she asked, staring at her pie, confusion written all over her face.
"What's up, kid?" he replied.
"When did you started seeing colors?" Abbie asked as she absentmindedly played with her fork.
"I always saw them, Abbie; but when I met Joe's mom, it was just an explosion of colors, so vibrant, so alive. Why do you ask?" he queried, tilting his head slightly.
"I think my ice-cream just got a bit…I don't know, weirdly colored?" she shrugged, her nose wrinkling in confusion.
"That's cream, the color of ice-cream is cream, at least the vanilla one is." he told her, his brow arched in confusion, and added, "I always thought you could see colors, you never mentioned not seeing them."
"I never believed in the soulmates system, I thought it was just a myth parents told their children…" Abbie shrugged, letting her fork rest at the side of her plate.
"And suddenly, now you do?" Corbin sounded almost hopeful.
"It is known you can only see color, at least a fraction of it if your soulmate is in the same place or area that you are, so I can only assume my promised one has been just born or move into the city. I'll gladly take the latter option." she snorted, giving him a sealed lip smile.
"Yes, I know your sister and my son were truly fortunate on this system, perhaps you just need a little more time." he said winking at her and picking his coffee mug.
" You've been strange enough as it is." she murmured, stealing his mug and putting down. "You've been drinking way too much coffee."
"I'm just saying, aren't you gonna miss all the excitement?" Corbin asked.
"Quantico takes only two hundred and forty a year. It's the FBI's only feeder program." Abbie rolled her eyes, biting her lower lip.
"I'm not running away if that's what you're thinking." she smiled, and added, "Hey, your pie's soup, old man."
He shook his head, smiling despite her antics. Such a curious woman was his partner.
"Time's up." she said, grabbing some money and putting on the table, "It's on me."
As they entered the car, Abbie's radio beeped, the station was informing her of some animal disturbance at Fox Creek Stables.
"We're on it. And this is why I got into police work." She laughed as Corbin started the car and said, "You're gonna miss this, I tell you."
If Abbie had known this would be the last time she would see her mentor, she would have looked at him more closely, taken in the gray color of his hair, the green of his eyes, the way the lights danced on his face, the rosy color of his cheeks. Now all she could see was the bright red of his blood dancing behind her eyelids.
And she had seen a redcoat, without a head. A headless man, on a horse. Riding it.
Suddenly she was starting to hope colors weren't a thing now because it was a lot easier when everything was black and white or gray and she didn't have to take notice of red stained hands and uniforms.
She sighed as Andy informed her of a strange man dressed in colonial clothes, who might be a suspect in Corbin's murder. Abbie finally turned her attention to him, noticed his Asian eyes red with unshed tears, his skin color somehow not entirely white, but if she were to compare he had the same color as the ice-cream Corbin had been eating mere hours ago. She blinked noticing how incredibly boring the station really was, everything was greenish yellow, gray or maroon, it was tasteless in a color sense. Her own uniform wasn't much colorful either, a khaki tone with enough pockets to carry all her things .
Andy stood behind her as she looked at the man cuffed inside the cell, his head down. That was all the giveaway she needed to step closer to the cell.
" You sure? I know this isn't easy, Abbie, but please take a closer look," Andy pleaded.
"Andy, I'm sure. The man I saw was wearing some kind of old military uniform, like, uh a red coat. He had something on his hand. I don't know, like a branding." She explained, now watching with growing interest the man sitting in the cell, his dirty hair and clothes, his fidgeting hands, his long stature.
She felt like the air had been sucked out of her when he raised his face and asked, "Did he carry a broadax?"
"What?" She asked astonished.
"A broadax, did he carry it?" Abbie swallowed her surprise as she walked closer to the cell, somehow the colors surrounding this particular man becoming stronger, until her eyes locked on his piercing blue ones, robbing her of her own breath.
He stood up, astonished as herself was and walked closer to the bars, tilting his head and licking his lips, he murmured, "Allow me to help you, Leftenant."