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Author's Note: Hello everyone! How are you? Hope you're doing well! I am so sorry for taking so long to get this new chapter to you all. I got so busy with school I've had such little time to write. And I'll admit this chapter isn't the most exciting, it's part two to the last chapter which was a recap of the episode "True Believer" next chapter will be better though! It'll have more original ideas and more dialogue between the character and hopefully it'll be up a lot sooner too! Thank you all so so much for the incredible encouragement and wonderful reviews you've left on the story so far it means so very much! You all help keep the story going! I hope you all enjoy this chapter, sorry if it's not the best, next time should be better! Please if you can, leave a review with your thoughts, it would really mean a lot! Thanks once again for all your amazing support, please review if you can leave a review, hope you like and as always, please, Enjoy!
Marty's meeting with Preacher James was even more interesting than the one Lucille had with the man. Like with Lucille's visit, Fred tagged along to not only drive Marty there but to be there for him during the encounter with the preacher—it was Fred's own form of showing his gratitude towards Marty.
When they met with Preacher James, Henry's photo was handed to him by Fred. The preacher appeared to be studying the picture carefully and Marty wondered why. He wanted to ask him but there was another question he really wanted an answer to.
"Why did you tell them I could bring Henry back?" he demanded to know.
Preacher James continued to look down at the photo in his hands and plainly replied, "Because you can."
Marty wasn't sure what had upset him more, the words that were said or the way that they were said. Whichever it was, it filled him with a whole new level of infuriation. It seemed like every time Marty was anywhere near Preacher James he felt a leery feeling inside him that just didn't allow him to trust the man; however, this time it was more than just skepticism that Marty felt.
The meeting couldn't have been more than a few minutes long but in those few minutes Preacher James had sent Marty on a rollercoaster of emotions. First anger, then confusion, then came fear and a sense of power that swiftly faded into a more vulnerable emotion.
Confusion, however, was the only emotion that remained as the powwow came to an end and James directed them out of the church for the Returned, remarking that they had work to do.
It was also confusion that continued to linger and grown when Preacher James led Fred and Marty out to the mysterious field that kept appearing in Marty's dreams…visions…he wasn't sure what they were.
At the field was an open grave, they didn't know who had dug it up but Preacher James told them who it was for—him.
He explained that in order to retrieve Henry he had to go where Henry was. He had to die and he'd already decided what would be the cause of his death. Preacher James told Marty and Fred that one of them had to shoot him and both men were taken aback by the request.
Hearing this, all of Marty's suspicions had been confirmed. He wasn't really needed to help bring Henry back. Preacher James would be making that journey or whatever it was, on his own. And he needed to be shot? That was crazy, the preacher was insane.
Marty told him how he felt about the idea before refusing to have any part in it; Fred meanwhile had a different kind of reaction.
Without a second thought, Fred shot the preacher dead. Proving, that like Lucille, he was determined to do whatever it took to get his brother back.
It had been Fred who suggested they go look for them when he noticed the hour, Preacher James said it would take, had passed. Marty proposed that they split up and so they did just that. They drove back into town, keeping their eyes peeled for Preacher James or Henry, and then they split up into their own vehicles and continued their search separately.
Each on their own path, Fred and Marty looked throughout Arcadia all through the night and a good chunk of the morning. The sun of the new day had already been shinning for several hours when the two men met up and pushed on with the search together in Fred's work vehicle.
It was well into the afternoon when they finally decided to pack it in. Preacher James wasn't coming back and neither was Henry.
The news was going to devastate Lucille and neither of the men was looking forward to telling her. It was while Fred was thinking of his sister-in-law that he realized there was someone else who he needed to tell the news of Henry's death.
Fred's phone call to his mother was quick but not painless; in fact, it felt as though it was tougher for Fred to tell Margaret the news than it was for her to hear it. Still Fred, knew that his mother was greatly affected by hearing that one of her son's had died; he could tell by the way she hung up the phone so abruptly.
Part of Fred was actually grateful that she hadn't allowed him to see or hear her breakdown, he was sure that the sound would have broken him and he needed to stay strong for Lucille.
Fred hated how he'd had to break the of Henry's death to Lucille last night but now to have to do it a second time? He wasn't sure he could do it. Of course, he would. He'd do it for Lucille and for Henry.
Lucille's reaction last night had been heartbreaking on its own and Fred was sure it would be worse the second time around.
And he was right.
When Marty and Fred told Lucille what happened, how they'd been searching for hours for Henry and Preacher James but had found nothing, Lucille was confused and didn't believe them. She told them they weren't making any sense, Preacher James told them he could bring Henry back. She then insisted once more that Henry would return.
"Henry is coming back," she declared, remaining in high spirits.
"No, he's not!" Marty shouted.
As soon as Lucille looked at him and he saw the fear and pain in her eyes, Marty felt guilty for using that tone of voice. Of course, this was only a smidge of guilt compared to the extreme amount of guilt he was already feeling for agreeing to go along with Preacher James' deception and giving Lucille not only more false hope but more pain.
Scared blue eyes looked at Fred, hoping to find some kind of assurance; something that said Marty was wrong, that there was still hope. Instead Lucille fond her brother in-law somberly shaking her head back and forth.
"There's nothing we can do," Fred spoke gently, hoping—wishing—his soft voice would somehow lessen the blow of it all. "Lucille, Henry's gone."
"No," Lucille wailed a heart-rending cry.
There wasn't a lot that Fred could do to help ease Lucille's hurt but what he could do, he would do. He opened his arms and wrapped them around Lucille's shaking body. Lucille continued to weep as she tightly hugged Fred back, clutching the shoulder of his jacket so fiercely as if it had played a role in her husband's passing.
While Lucille's agonizing sobs continued to fill the house, Jacob came bounding down the stairs.
He walked straight to the front door, never saying a single word, and pulled open it open revealing Preacher James. And Henry.
The sight of Henry standing before them was a shock for everyone; expect Jacob who had quickly and gleefully told his father, "I knew you'd be back."
Watching Henry lift his son up in his arms, after having seen his lifeless body being loaded up into an ambulance, only a little over twenty four hours ago, was a lot for Marty and especially Fred to take in. There were a million and one questions running through their minds. How was this possible? Was Preacher James really behind this? Was this really Henry? Was he really okay?
Fred was so overwhelmed by it all, he had to grab onto the banister of the staircase to keep from tumbling over.
Meanwhile, Lucille had only one thought going through her head; her husband was back.
She watched the hug between father and son and continued to cry openly, out of happiness this time. She had already been blessed with the miracle of getting Jacob back and now she had Henry back as well…in that moment she felt like the luckiest woman in Missouri.
Then just when Lucille didn't think she could feel any luckier she saw Henry move Jacob into one arm, then look over at her wearing that little smirk of his and Lucille felt her heart skip a beat.
Her husband was back.
She rushed over to Henry and before he could move his arm around her she had hers wrapped tightly around him, silently vowing to never let go.
And she didn't.
As Henry was welcomed back by the others, a grin and manly pat on the shoulder from Marty and a somewhat awkward hug from Fred, Lucille kept her hold on her husband while tears silently streamed down her face.
She tried to stay as close to Henry as she could, holding onto his hand then his arm, even keeping her hand on his back. It was almost like she was afraid to break contact with him. As though she were worried that if she lost that closeness with Henry, he would suddenly disappear for good.
Once Lucille was able to compose herself, stopping her tears but keeping her grip on Henry, she invited everyone to an early dinner of Henry's favorite foods.
It was an invitation that Marty and Preacher James declined, there was a comment made about them needing to talk before they left the Langston home. Fred on the other hand, accepted the offer and even called up Maggie to invite her; but his call was answered by her voicemail and Fred figured it must have been a busy day at the clinic.
Dinner was a rather quite one. The elephant in the room was ginormous with colorful stripes but it remained ignored and avoided throughout the meal.
Fred couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed that his brother didn't want to say anything about his death or his return. Lucille didn't seem to mind this, in fact she avoided the topic almost as much as Henry did—if not more so. Most of the dinner conversation came from young Jacob who eagerly filled his dad in on everything he had missed in the past day and a half.
For dessert there was cake and coffee for the adults and cake and chocolate milk for Jacob.
Soon the meal was over, not because they'd run out of food—there was plenty for the rest of the week—but because everyone was full. With every big dinner came a lot of dirty dishes and as Lucille began to gather them from the table she told her son to get ready for bed, reminding him that he had school tomorrow.
Jacob was quick to comply and after giving his father another big hug and waving at his uncle, he headed upstairs.
Wanting to show his appreciation for the home-cooked meal that she'd invited him to, Fred helped Lucille clean up the mess that the wonderful meal had created.
While Lucille filled the sink with water, Fred gathered stacks of dishes from the table and took them to her. There were so many that he had to make several trips. Fred was in the process of leaving the kitchen to retrieve some more when he pushed the swinging door open just a bit and caught the sight of his brother stepping out onto the front porch.
His brows furrowed slightly as the front door was silently shut. He figured Henry just needed some space and Fred was willing to give him that; however, before Fred left tonight he was going to make sure he would tell his brother what he'd spent the past day wishing he had said to him sooner.
Lucille had washed no more than two of the food-smeared dishes when she suddenly stopped and decided that they could wait until morning. There were more important things to do than cleaning some dirty dishes. She explained to Fred that she was going upstairs to tuck Jacob in and Fred took that as his cue to say goodnight and head home—of course, not before talking to Henry.
Minutes later, Lucille appeared to have caught the end of the Langston Brothers' talk because by the time she had finished with Jacob and peeked out through the front door's window she saw Fred already off the porch and climbing into his vehicle.
Quietly she opened the door and stepped onto the front porch and into the night air which was much colder than she thought it would be. She pulled her light sweater closer around her as she walked towards her husband.
"Hey," she greeted looking up at him with concern. She had also noticed how distant he was at dinner, "You okay?
Henry didn't look at her, his eyes scanned around nervously as he looked at everything but her. "Was it all a dream?"
Lucille sighed, to her the past few days had felt like a nightmare. "Which part?"
Finally Henry looked at her and she could see the confusion and worry in his eyes.
"Us. Jacob." He paused once more, "All of it."
Lucille stared up at her husband, staring into his blue eyes that seemed to be searching hers. She could tell he was desperate for an answer, for something to make him feel better. She felt bad that she couldn't give him an exact answer but she didn't have one. All she could do was tell him how she felt about it, but maybe that would be enough to make him feel just a little bit of comfort.
"Honey, I don't care," she told him with a light southern accent.
A grin broke onto Henry's face as he let out a chuckle, it was a sound that warmed Lucille's heart and had her smiling her own smile as she reached her hand out to touch her cheek. Then she did something she didn't think she'd be able to do again, something she had been wanting to do since he walked through the threshold.
She kissed him.
The moment that Lucille's lips touched his she felt it. That same magical, blissful, nearly indescribable feeling of love that always she felt whenever she kissed her husband. She now knew once and for all, Henry was back.
Her Henry was back.
Still relishing in the feeling of the spark that she never thought she would feel again, Lucille pulled out of the kiss and slowly opened her eyes. Her lips curved into a sensuous smile and she gazed at her husband with a look in her eyes that she saved just for him, before she took his hand in hers and led him into their home.
Author's Note: So what did you think? Yay? Nay? A little of both? Hope it wasn't too bad! Be sure to let me know in a review!
So I was recently reading some reviews of the episode True Believer and some viewers picked up some interesting things. And one of the things discussed in a review was whether it was really Preacher James who brought Henry back or was it someone else? Was it maybe Marty when he started to believe in Preacher James? Was it maybe Lucille who never gave up hope that Henry would be back—the episode was called "True Believer" and it looked like Lucille was the true believer in that episode.
I had pretty much assumed it was Preacher James, but since I love Henry/Lucille I think it's sweet to think that maybe Lucille's faith and hope did somewhat help bring Henry back. I'm a romantic, I know lol What do you all think?
Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!
