TEN:

Revelations

Author's note: I'm sorry it took so long to update this story, everybody, but the computer I use at home crashed and I have only been able to go to the library to use the Internet, so I haven't had the time to get on to post this, and we have been snowed in for weeks, so I haven't been able to go up to my trailer, where I like to write, but the weather is starting to clear up here so hopefully we can get a new computer at home soon and I will be able to go up to my trailer and write more on this story. I hope everyone is still enjoying it! I would like to thank everyone again for the great reviews! I very much appreciate them. I always like to get reviews. Anyway, here's the next chapter. It features Albert and Anna, as I promised in the last chapter, and the next chapter after this one should center around Edward and Foy again. Hopefully it won't take me as long to write as this one did, and, oh, there's something else I would like to add: there is a line from Taken in this chapter. Here's a couple of little hints: you probably already know the one I'm talking about, and it's toward the beginning of the chapter, but it shouldn't be too hard to find. Kudos if you do! You can let me know if you do find it if you want to. Good luck and happy reading!

From a distance, Albert could see a tall, dark, but rugged, rather than handsome, stranger with a broad build and wide shoulders standing in the desert, but he was too far away to make out who it was was. More suspicious rather than curious, because there was something about this stranger Albert didn't like, he took a few cautious steps toward the figure, and blinked, taking several steps back. Now there were two figures instead of one, something he hadn't noticed before. The second figure was shorter than the first one had been, and slimmer. He also wore a hat, just like the other strange figure, but he kept the brim of his hat lowered over his eyes, concealing his identity.

"I have a particular set of skills...and I will hunt you down...and I will kill you..."

Albert bristled. He slowly looked up at the chilling sound of the familiar, grating voice, and staggered backwards.

It was Clinch Leatherwood.

But Albert had killed Clinch Leatherwood, fair and square, in a shootout he would never be able to forget. The outlaw was dead. He couldn't be alive, could he? Not unless this was a dream, Albert thought, or a very horrible nightmare...

"But I...killed you..." Albert stammered, pointing a trembling finger at Clinch. "You...should be...dead..."

Clinch, who had drawn his gun and aimed it at Albert, just chuckled. "Oh, but I am," he said, and smiled. When he did, the tips of his mouth curved and pulled back the skin of his jaw , revealing the hideous, rotting skull underneath. He began to laugh, and the rest of his skin started to fall away from his face, showing the true walking corpse he had become.

Albert screamed, falling backwards. He scooted away from the two men, more terrified than he had ever been in his life. The other man had drawn his gun, too, and had lifted his head up, revealing his face.

Albert was shocked to see that it was Lewis.

Just before Albert could open his mouth to plead for his life, Lewis had pulled the trigger, and fired.

Lying in bed, Albert woke screaming, drenched in sweat. He felt a tight pressure on his hand and looked over to the right side of the bed. Anna was sitting there, squeezing his hand as hard as she could, crushing it in her death grip. Albert yelped in pain and tried to pull his hand out of hers.

"Oh, Albert, honey, I'm sorry," Anna said, letting go of his hand. "I didn't mean to hurt you." She patted his hand, rubbing it. "What's wrong?"

Albert gulped. "I-It was...just a dream..." he said, shaking his head, which was a mistake because the movement made him dizzy. Groaning, he put his hand on his forehead and laid his head back on his pillow, closing his eyes.

Anna felt his head. "It's all right, Albert," she said, sounding as if it wasn't all right, and that everything that could go wrong had. "Take it easy."

Albert opened his eyes. "What's wrong?" he asked, gripping Anna's hand.

Anna looked down, avoiding his eyes. "I-I lost the baby, Albert," she said in a low mutter. Albert had to sit up a little in order to hear her better.

"You...what?" he asked, not sure if he had heard what she had said or if he just didn't want to believe it.

Anna raised her head a little, still keeping her eyes lowered. "I lost the baby, all right?"

Albert blinked, feeling hurt, angry, and shocked all at the same time. "Fuck," he said, his hoarse voice cracking."How did this happen?" He rubbed at his eyes, trying to keep the tears from flowing.

Anna shook her head. "None of us know," she said, not even bothering to stop the tears that were streaming down her face. "Doctor Harper did all he could." She grimaced, gripping her side.

Albert sat up. "What's wrong?" he asked, bracing himself on the bed as another wave of dizziness almost overwhelmed him.

Anna held her hand up. "Look, don't freak out, okay?" she asked, grabbing his arm to steady him.

Albert gulped. "Don't worry, I won't," he said, trying to stay calm. "I'll try not to, anyway, okay?" He took a deep breath. "What is it?"

"This," Anna said, pulling up her shirt.

Albert gasped at the sight of the jagged, lengthy, nasty-looking scar trailing up and down Anna's side. "What did he do to you?" he asked, ready to beat the shit out of Doctor Harper. "Where is he?" He looked around the room for any signs of Doctor Harper. "I'll kill him."

Anna put a hand over his shoulder. ""No, Albert, don't," she said, easing him back down on the bed. "He had to do it." She swallowed. "He had to do it order to get the baby out...the one that died."

Albert stared back at her, his face white. "No..." he said, shaking his head. "Anna...please...tell me...it didn't happen...please tell me...this is just another nightmare..." The tears were pouring now, and there was nothing he could do to stop them.

Anna looked down at his hand, and squeezed it. "I'm sorry...Albert...but I just can't..." she said, shaking her head. "I'd be lying and we would both know it." She sighed, looking back up at Albert. "If it helps...there is good news."

Albert looked back at her, hopeful. "What kind...of good...news?" he asked.

A smile turned up the corner's of Anna's thin, grim mouth. "There were two babies," she said, holding up two fingers. "The other one...survived..."

Albert sat up, and, again, regretted it. He dared not tell Anna, but he felt like he was going to pass out, and not just from the poison that was eating away at his insides at that very moment. He was feeling too many emotions at one time, and he hadn't known a human being could feel so many things at once. It was overwhelming him. "Was it...a boy...or girl?" he asked.

Anna looked proud, despite the situation "Girl," she said, still looking lost and forlorn.

Albert grinned. "I bet she looks just like you," he said, trying to imagine what he's daughter looked like.

Anna nodded. "She does," she said, running her fingers through a thick strand of her blond hair. "She's got the same color hair and everything." Albert was alarmed when, all of her sudden, her smile vanished.

It was all Albert could do to stop himself from sitting back up again. "What?" he asked, feeling his eyes widening in fear. "What's wrong?"

Then, much to his dismay, Anna put her face in her hands and began crying again. "He was a boy...the one that died..." She was sobbing, her words muffled by her hands. "He looked just like you..." She shook her head, peeking her eyes over the tips of her fingers. "When I looked at him...I saw you...and...oh, Albert I was so afraid you were going to hate me for loosing him!"

Albert looked at her for a moment, gaping at her in disbelief. "Anna! How could you say that?" He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. "I could never hate you!" He laid her head on his chest, burying his chin in her hair. "How could you ever say something like that?"

Anna shook her head, trying to blink the tears out of her eyes. "I don't know," she said, looking up at Albert. "I just don't know..."

Albert sighed. "I could never hate you, Anna, " he said, closing his eyes. "Never. No matter what happens. I will always love you, got that?"

Anna gulped. "Yes," she said. "I just...I just don't know what I've done to deserve such a sweet guy like you." She let out a dry chuckle. "All of the other guys I've met in the past have been such assholes." She snorted. "I guess that's to be expected, though, when you're married to a guy like Clinch Leatherwood. A lot of his friends where nothing but jerks."

Albert laughed, finding it a miracle that he could even laugh at a time like this. "Yeah", he said, kissing Anna on the forehead. "You're right." His eyes widened as a sudden thought came to him, his mind going back to the vision.

"What is it, Albert?" Anna asked, shaking his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"I know who shot me, Anna," Albert said, staring into her eyes. "it's so obvious I should of thought of it before." He let out a nervous little laugh. "I guess I've just been in so much pain...I've not been able to think..."

Anna shook him. "Who?" she asked, her voice rising in her panic. "Tell me, Albert! Who?"

"It was Lewis," Albert said, not taking his eyes off of Anna. "He's the only one in Lewis' troop that I know of who would've had a motive against me. Of course, they all would've had a motive against me. I killed their boss, after all, the man who was paying them, but Lewis would be in charge of them now, since he was Clinch's right-hand man. He would've been the one who pulled the trigger."

Anna turned pale, and Albert knew she had came to the same realization that he had. Fuck!" She swore, slamming her fist down on the bed. Albert flinched away from her. "FUCK! I should've known that little weasel was behind this!" She stood up from the bed, starting to pace back and forth. "I'm going to kill him! As soon as Edward and Foy are back, I'm going to hunt that little bastard down and kill him!"

Albert could feel himself sinking down into the bed sheets. "Great plan, Anna," he said, feeling like a small, sick little bug. "I couldn't agree with you more. I want to hunt him down and kill him just as much as you do." He held up a finger. "There's just one little problem."

Anna swerved around, glaring at him. "What?" she snapped, causing him to jump.

"We have no idea where he is," Albert said, throwing his hands up. "For all we know, he could be half away across the desert by now."

"Fuck that!" Anna cried, making Albert jump again. She was going to cause him to have a heart attack. "That double-crossing bastard's still around. I can feel it in my gut! I bet he's still in town somewhere nearby, hiding, like the little coward he is!" She moaned in frustration, stomping her feet. "Don't you think so, Albert?" She stopped pacing and eased herself back down beside the bed.

Albert thought for a moment. "Yes," he said, after a few seconds. "I do." He sighed with weariness. "I just can't figure out why we haven't heard anything from him. Now that I think about it, it is kind of odd that we haven't heard anything about him in awhile. It looks like if we would've heard something...especially if he had gotten caught... It would've been in the news... I guess we can't worry about it now, though."

"Yeah, you're right," Anna said, sighing in defeat. "Right now we need to worry about the baby. I still haven't named it, yet. I was kind of waiting on you to get better, so you could name it, but I guess that's going to take awhile, huh?"

Albert chuckled. "Looks that way," he said. "So, what name did you have in mind?"

Anna blinked. "What?" she asked, looking distracted. "Oh, you mean the baby." She sighed. "You know, I haven't really thought about it. I really was waiting on you to get better. I know I can't name it after my parents, though. I loved them but they were a sorry excuse for a mom and dad, letting a man like Clinch run off and marry me. I guess you could say the same thing about your parents."

It was sad, but true. "Yeah, you're right," he said, smiling. "You couldn't call my mom and dad good parents, either... and I wouldn't name my kid after them...but I really can't think of any names right now..." He looked at her, hoping he could study her face for answers. "Couldn't I name her after you?"

Anna looked like she was trying not to laugh. She snorted. "Are you crazy?" she asked. "You couldn't name her after me! I haven't been a very good person, Albert. Throughout my whole life it seems like I've been running from the law, thanks to Clinch Leatherwood, and I've had to do things...things I'm not proud of, to get myself out of situations that no woman should never be put in, and they would make your toes curl if I told you about all of them, but I would be ashamed if you named our child after me."

Albert gaped at her in disbelief, unable to believe what he was hearing. "Anna!" he gasped, struggling to sit up. "How could you say something like that? You could never be a bad mother! No matter how bad a person you thought you were when you were married to Clinch Leatherwood! It wasn't your fault! If it hadn't been for him, you wouldn't have been in those situations to begin with! If anything, it's his fault! I can't let you blame yourself, Anna. You didn't do anything wrong. You would make a great mother, even if you don't think so. I think you would be a great mother, anyway, and I still love you, no matter what you think you did"

Anna sniffed, rubbing tears out of her eyes. "Oh, Albert, " she said, shaking her head. "You always know the right things to say... I don't know what I ever did to deserve you, but I'm glad I found you." She bent down and kissed his hand. "I don't know what I would do without you."

Albert smiled at her and squeezed her hand. "Me either," he said, sagging back down into the covers. This was the most talking he had ever done since he had been bedridden, and it had drained him, but he was trying not to let Anna see that, knowing it would only worry her. "So...what do you think we ought to name the baby?"

Anna blinked and looked up, startled out of whatever she had had been in. "Oh, I don't know..." she said, trailing off. Albert thought she seemed distracted, as if her mind and body were somewhere else. "Whatever you want to..."

"Hmmm..." Albert said, tapping his finger over his bottom lip. "How about... Annabelle? I've always liked that name, and the great thing is, it's got Anna in it, but it's also got Belle in it, so it's like having two names in one! We can call her Belle if you want to, though, if you're still not comfortable with naming her after you. What do you think?"

"Oh, Albert, I think I would love her no matter what her name was," Anna said, stretching over his depleted body to kiss his cheek. "Besides, I think Annabelle's a great name. I love it. We will call her Anna and Belle both."

Albert's shoulders sagged with both exhaustion and relief. "That's great," he said, hugging her back. "Where is Annabelle, anyway?" he asked, letting his head fall on top of hers. "I would like to see her."

"I left her with Ruth," Anna said, running her hand over his sunken stomach, her trembling fingers tracing the area around his wound. "She said she would take care of her for me while I talked to you." She laughed. "She a life savior, that Ruth. I don't know what I would do without her."

"Yeah, I know," Albert said, rubbing her back. "I don't know where we would be without her and Edward." A worried look came across his face."Speaking of Ed, I wonder where he is right now, and what he's doing..."

Anna laughed. "If I now him, he's making Foy Ellison's life a living hell, and I hope he is," she said, clinching her hand into a fist. "That smug bastard deserves whatever he getd after all the shit he put us through."

Albert nodded. "Yeah, he said, kissing her forehead. "I just hope Ed gets back okay...I'm really starting to...worry about him..." He could feel his eyes drooping.

"Yeah, I' am too, but you really need to worry about yourself more," Anna said, gently rising up from him. "You sound tired." She gave him one last kiss on the cheek before she turned to walk toward the door. "Why don't you take a nap?" She looked over her shoulder at him. "I'm going to go back to Ruth, make sure she and the baby are doing okay."

Albert yawned. "That would be...a good idea..." he said, falling into a deep, troubled sleep once again.