Winner Takes All - Chapter 9

Spoilers up through Season 2 finale, ignores Orion arc so Katrina doesn't free Headless to escape him.

AN: Standard Disclaimer! I own nothing (though I would love to get Abraham for a while...)

Big thanks to my Beta-Readers RS73 and Bittenfeld!

Inspiration Soundtrack: "Abomination" - Penny Dreadful soundtrack (season 1)

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Abbie awoke to an aching skull and something sticky drying on her cheek. After a few moments of confusion, she managed to piece together that she had most likely been knocked out by the wight as it dragged her into a hole in the ground.

It seemed so simple, now that she thought of it: she had been using tunnels under the town for years. It should not have come as a surprise that other creatures would use them as well.

She had no idea how long she had been unconscious, but she was startled to find her wrists tied to a ring-bolt sunk into the concrete floor. Fresh blood trickled slowly into her eyes as she frowned. Why hadn't the monster just killed her like the others? Why tie her up when she was clearly no match for it?

A wheezing noise drew her attention and she jerked back when she saw the wight huddled in the corner. The creature's skin was so pale it looked like a Halloween skeleton wrapped in a white trash bag.

Just like Susan said...

Mills quickly looked around the rest of the room, searching for clues as to their location. A small window was set next to the only door, but it showed a higher ceiling outside instead of sky. Abbie reasoned that perhaps she was trapped in an office built inside a larger building or warehouse. The air was stale and heavy with dust, but there was a cloying scent of decay that tried to stick to the back of her tongue. To one side, the concrete floor was crumbled far enough to show the entrance of a tunnel, most likely the one she had been dragged through. Bones and rotting clothes were piled up in another area, giving evidence of what had happened to previous visitors.

Fear poured ice into her veins as she desperately tried to find some kind of good news.

The creature began to sniff the dusty air, as if scenting her distress. She watched it unfold its lanky body like an ivory spider and blink red glowing eyes in her direction.

Despite her best efforts to remain calm, terror clutched at Abbie's throat. Crime scene photos of the wight's other victims flipped through her head like a macabre movie reel. She struggled against her bindings, alternately jerking on the ropes and kicking at the ring-bolt in hopes of working it loose from the concrete.

The more she moved, the more agitated the creature became, so Abbie forced herself to stop and focus on taking deep calming breaths.

The wight whimpered and twitched pitifully, rocking on its bony feet, but made no further move towards her.

Now that she wasn't fighting so hard, Abbie could hear other noises.

Footsteps.

The wight began to growl as the door opened.

Three men entered the small office, their attitude and combat dress giving Abbie an inkling of who they were even before she saw the Hessian marks on their arms. One of the men had a cattle prod and pointed it at the wight. The language was unintelligible but she could imagine what it translated to: Behave or suffer.

"Miss Mills," one of the men said in strongly accented English. "We apologize for ze rough treatment in bringing you here. But, it was important zat you were not followed."

"That so?" she sneered. "Well, you can let me go and not follow me back."

His teeth were perfectly straight as he smiled. "I fear zat is not possible."

"I figured, but didn't hurt to ask." She tried to look past the mercenaries to see what was outside of the door, but sheets of hanging white plastic blocking the view. "So, why am I here? It's clear this was planned ahead and you don't want Chuckles over there to eat me. What's the deal?"

"I cannot tell you zat."

"Are you trying to use me as bait for my friends?"

"Perhaps."

"It won't work!" He knew that was a lie as much as she did.

"Are you working for the Horseman?" Abbie dreaded the answer even as she asked. She didn't want to think that Abraham had somehow concocted the kidnapping while getting her to believe he was becoming a better man.

"I cannot tell you zat."

"Well you're just helpful as hell, Smiley."

That knocked some of the shine off of his demeanor. "All will become clear soon enough. Until zen, you will be our guest, Miss Mills. Here you shall stay."

With that, he pulled a pair of wire cutters out of his pocket and grasped the necklace around her throat.

Abbie jerked away. "Don't touch that!"

Smiley tightened the chain in his fist until it choked her airway. When she began to see stars, he cut the delicate links with a snap and Katrina's necklace fell into his waiting palm.

"You bastard!" she snarled hoarsely. "Abraham is going to be so pissed!"

The mercenary wasn't smiling now. "Zen, if I am to die, it would make no difference if I added to my list of crimes."

His backhanded slap knocked Abbie senseless.


She was close. The Shadelings were practically dancing with excitement as they raced back and forth. Abraham slowed his mount to survey the building, his own incarceration having taught him to be cautious.

Guards patrolled in pairs and were heavily armed, but the Horseman was less concerned about the defenses than he was about what would happen to Abbie once the alarm was sounded. Hessian or not, he did not want to risk that these men had orders to stop him.

He was about to move when a Shade screeched. Guards in a secondary patrol Abraham hadn't seen approaching from the trees called out before opening fire on the creature.

Be on your guard, Death comes for you.


Muffled gunfire and screams. Abbie had been in and out of consciousness, making her unsure if she was still dreaming or how long the noises had been going on.

She heard a dreadful squeal behind her and she looked 0ver her shoulder in time to see the wight escape down into its tunnel. The cadaverous face had looked terrified.

The men at the doorway were also gone.

Fear gripped her, but she had so little to lose. Abbie began tearing at her bonds once more. "Help! Anyone? I'm in here!"

The door cracked open and someone slipped inside. "Hello?"

"Yes! Please, I'm here!"

"Mills?"

"Here!"

"Mills!"

Relief flooded Abbie's body as she recognized a friendly face. "Sheriff!"

"What are you doing here?" Reyes' dark eyes were full of concern as she glanced around, pistol drawn. "What the hell is going on?"

Mills nearly cried. "It would take too long to explain. How did you find me?"

"Someone reported shots fired, I was on my way home and came to investigate. I've called for backup, they should be here any moment." The sheriff clicked open a pocket knife to cut the bloodstained ropes. "Who are these guys?"

"I'll tell you once we're safe," Abbie flexed her fingers, trying to work the feeling back into her hands.

There were more screams from outside, getting closer.

"We need to move! Are you hurt? Can you walk?"

"Help me out of here and I'll fricken tap dance."

"That, I'd like to see." Reyes' relieved smile was brief.

A body crashed through the doorway and tumbled into a broken heap near the huddled women. Reyes jumped up, her weapon raised defensively.

A dead man in a redcoat uniform stood blocking the exit with a glowing axe in his fist.

"Abraham?" Abbie blinked, her voice shaking with disbelief.

"What the-"

"No, wait Sheriff! He's…he's with me!"

"What?"

"It's tough to explain, but I will! Just don't do anything…don't shoot him, please."

"Mills, are you out of your mind?!"

"Trust me!" Abbie threw a desperate glance at the Horseman.

Without the pendant, Abraham appeared headless and terrifying once more. As he paused in the doorway to look the women over, a moment of doubt flared in Abbie's mind. What if he had just been pretending all these months? What would he do now that he was free and didn't need her?

Would he still...

Abbie ruthlessly crushed the treacherous thoughts to dust, refusing to believe that everything they had shared had just been a trick.

She could tell Abraham was angry, but the tension eased in his shoulders when he saw her. Striding past the stunned sheriff, he pulled Abbie into his arms without any preamble.

She kept expecting to hear the harsh clank of his chains, the cold bite of the harness against her cheek, but Abbie realized that nothing like that would come between them again. Relief surged through her, washing away the fear and doubt as she buried her face into his chest.

When he drew back, she gave him a brave smile that trembled slightly as he looked over her injuries. She imagined she was an awful sight: blood matted her hair from the wound on her forehead, her cheek was swollen from the mercenary's slap, a thin mark sliced across her throat from where the necklace chain cut the skin. Abbie winced as the Horseman's grip on her shoulders tightened with each discovery.

"They took the pendant," she said when he touched her bare neck. "I'm ok, I'm just...just so glad you're here..."

Abraham cupped her undamaged cheek softly, brushing away the damp track of of her tears before turning his furious attention to the sheriff.

"Wait, don't hurt her. Reyes is here to help-"

The older woman looked between the odd pair and then chuckled as she put her sidearm away. "You're with her? Here I thought you were their prisoner, but it looks more like you were on a romantic holiday. Just what were you doing down in that little dungeon of theirs?"

Abbie's brow wrinkled in confusion. The difference on the surface was subtle, but she stared at the superior officer she had known and barely recognized her. "Sheriff?"

Reyes seemed patently unconcerned with Abraham's looming presence, even when he stabbed an accusing finger inches from her face.

"Calm yourself. She's a little worse for wear, but I think you would agree that the results were worth it."

Abraham's axe flared, responding to his mute anger.

"Don't blame me, I had other business to take care of. War was supposed to be handling your escape and that went pear-shaped thanks to the red witch. Besides, being locked up couldn't have been a total waste of time," Reyes motioned to Mills. "Look, you even came home with a souvenir."

The puzzle pieces finally clicked in Abbie's exhausted mind and her stomach sank. "You're a Horseman, too."

The sheriff looked her direction, a secretive smile on her lips. "Smart girl. I always liked that about you, Mills. If the world wasn't about to end, I'd have expected you to make Captain one day."

"These were your men…"

"Mercenaries. I couldn't very well use cops, could I? You would have recognized them and spoiled the surprise. The Hessians-" Reyes rolled the thug's corpse away with the tip of her boot- "are useful and faithful to the Cause. Abraham didn't need to kill quite so many, honestly. But mercenaries are cheap and dead mercenaries are free."

"And the wight? That was a trap you set?"

"Not my best asset, I'll be honest, but a calculated risk. Too strong a monster and it would have killed you all off before you could have gone for help. One too weak and you could have finished it yourselves. To get what I wanted, I needed a threat that required a Goldilocks solution."

"Abraham." Abbie looked at the headless man, her brow furrowed with dawning horror.

I did not know, he signed urgenty.

She wanted to believe him, but dread pooled in her stomach.

"Top marks, Mills," Reyes' eyes glittered with approval. "If you had known another Horseman was behind the attacks, you would never have let Abraham out. Two Horseman on the loose would be too much. It would be almost enough to start an Apocalypse!" she said mockingly.

"How...how did you know that-"

"That the 'God Squad' would send Death to come get you?" The sheriff's smile was ugly. "Simple: you told me."

"What?"

The older woman held up her phone and the sound of Abbie's voice carried through the warehouse. The one-sided conversation had taken place weeks earlier; in it, she had spoken to Abraham about Jenny's concerns with their relationship...

"How did you get that!"

"The technology of this century is a truly exceptional, you just need to know where to apply it."

"You bugged me? But…but you're…"

"One of the 'good guys'? A cop?" Reyes' smile grew teeth. "How better to spread my influence than from the inside?"

"You...you think you can bring about the end of the world by what? Giving traffic tickets?"

"If you think I'm going to lay out the details of my Dastardly Evil Plan for you, then you've been watching too many Bond films." Reyes clucked her tongue. "However, I will give you a small clue: to paraphrase a famous line: 'The Internet! You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy!'"

"What...?" Confusion scrawled across Abbie's face. "The Internet?"

"Amazing invention, Tweets spread faster than the bubonic plague in my heyday."

"You're Pestilence!"

"Or Conquest, depending on the canon you prefer." The sheriff dipped her head in a mocking bow.

"We beat you before!" Abbie's head began to pound in earnest as her temper rose.

"You mean the tiny bit of scourge that broke out a while back? A mere echo of my power that was caught up in that little mud hole of a village when it vanished. Moloch used it as a test, to see if you and Crane could handle a crisis. I must say: you did not disappoint."

Abraham tensed at the name of the demon who had anointed him, but otherwise did not react.

"A test? People died!"

"And many more would have, if left to fester. But you were a smart girl and solved the puzzle."

"You think you'll get away with all of this?!"

"Of course I will. Who would ever imagine that the sheriff of a small no-name town could control entire continents from her office?"

Trembling with rage, Mills sputtered: "All this time you were a Horseman! You put my mother in the psych ward! you said you did it to help her!"

"I did. I wanted to help your mother with her demons," Reyes' eyes glittered an ugly yellow. "So I put her in a place where she couldn't escape from them."

Abbie snarled and tried to launch herself at the older woman but Abraham held her back. Mills' weakened state made her less of a match for the Horseman than normal, but she still fought like a tiger.

"That! That, right there, I would never have predicted in a thousand years," Reyes shook her head at the wrestling pair. "Be careful you don't burn yourself on that temper of hers, Brother."

"I will kill you myself, Reyes!" Abbie spat.

"I sincerely doubt that. Besides," the sheriff chuckled as she sauntered toward the exit, "you're on furlough, Mills. The official story is that you suffered a nervous breakdown, job stress, and I put you on administrative leave. I even have evidence, in your handwriting, full of some crazy stories of monsters and time travelling soldiers. If you do manage to find someone to listen, any story you spin about demons and the Apocalypse will never be taken seriously, especially considering your family's history of mental illness. They'll just think you've finally cracked." Reyes turned back when she reached the doors, a thoughtful look on her face. "I really do have to be getting back to the office, lots of paperwork and the Founders' Festival is about to start. Thousands of tourists to prepare for. But before I go: I have a gift for you, Abraham..."


AN: Happy Halloween, ;)

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