Chapter 11: Dissension, Sincerity
Silence dreads the entirety of Cordelia's Office, leaving everyone in complete reticence, everyone except Madison of course, who has the smuggest, most laughable smirk on her pretty face as she sips on red wine and sucks on her cigarette, blowing smoke from her mouth and into the room. Zoe and Michael, the authors of this situation, remain silent, not in fear of what Cordelia is going to, but in fear of what Kyle and Mallory are going to do, or say for that matter, and as for the saying part of that fear, it's certainly coming.
"Seriously? Silence?! Seriously?! I expected you all to at least say something, like 'hey, Madison, I've missed you beautiful, wonderful, angelic face so, so much, and I'm so, so sorry I didn't bring you back sooner!'? No?! Can someone say something? Queenie? Cordelia? Whoever you are? Kyle?! You have the most to say to me, seeing you, you know, strangled me to death? Some could argue I deserved it, but some could argue you should have been burnt at the stake, and-"
"For fuck sake, woman! Shut the fuck up!" Queenie says, her silence finally breaking, but that's when her eyes maneuver to Zoe. "Why in the Coven's name did you, all of the people you, bring Madison Montgomery back to life, and how in the Coven's name did you manage to drag the kid into your little problem? What did you do? What did she do, Michael?"
"The one and the only thing I did was ask for his help, and he agreed to my instructions, nothing more, and as for you, Kyle, you don't have to speak if you don't want to, okay? Nobody is forcing you, especially Madison, she's impudent with her words at this moment because she was just given her life back, but her impudence will leave the premises very shortly," Zoe says, subtly reminding Madison of her place, who hasn't seemed to have picked that up yet, that fact alone settles Kyle for the moment. "Or else."
"What does that mean? Are you threatening me already?" Madison questions, sipping on her wine once more. "Now now, we should leave such fun for later, shouldn't we?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm doing, just because you're back, doesn't mean you're back forever, not yet at the very least. You'd be bright to remember Madison Montgomery is still classified as deceased, as for the mentioned fun, I'd rather strangle you to death myself than have anything to do with involving such activities. So be careful what you say."
"Well, fuck, get fucked, Hollywood," Queenie chuckles, using Telekinesis to flick Madison's cigarette out the window of Cordelia's Office. "Whoops."
"If that wasn't a threat, I don't know what is," Mallory mutters under her breath, something she manages to keep secret from everyone, nobody everyone except Michael that is, who glares at her anxiously, causing her to mouth the word "What" to him, only for him to mouth "Nothing" back to her.
"A status of which will not be changed unless I have something to say about it," Cordelia intervenes, eyes glaring at the still anxious Michael. "Michael, why did you help her without my full permission? Why would you travel all the way to a stranger's Hell to rescue them from a fate they arguably deserved."
"For the same reason I travelled to Misty Day's Hell to rescue her from a fate she, in fact, did not deserve, because I want to help those in need, after having that first taste of what it feels like to save someone, to be a hero rather than a monster, a killer, I wanted more than just a taste. So I did it again, I went to Madison here's Hell, the only difference this time around is I knew exactly what I was doing, what I had to do, completing the task almost flawlessly."
"Almost meaning he essentially got lost in Hell and could have himself become a victim to Descensum, luckily for all of us, he clearly found his way out," Zoe scoffs. "If you weren't going to kill me, Cordelia, Mallory would have certainly murdered me for you."
"I wouldn't have been impressed, let's just say that, I'm barely impressed as it is," Mallory warns. "Miss Cordelia, may I be
"I have to say, while Michael saved me from looked sensuous while doing he did," Madison comments, licking her lips at the sight of Michael, who notably ignores her. "But here I am, alive and mostly well, I'm feeling a little worse for wear, slightly limited if you ask me. Most likely a consequence of being resurrected for a second time, nobody asked I know, but this time, I can actually feel things this time! The cold, the heat, the taste of this red wine and the ecstasy of this cigarette, emotion at least! Not to put you down, dear Misty and dear Zoe, it's too early for put-downs and you bitches are the absolute bomb! But your methods on resurrection has nothing on Mikey-boy's methods of resurrection, he must be an angel or the devil because his level of power is nearly out of this world!"
"I'm not offended, Madison, but unfortunately, I'm experiencing the same limitation, however, more so than you it appears," Misty weakly snickers, looking as if she's about to fall asleep on the seat Cordelia had placed her in, all while Cordelia supports her by the soft grasp and caressing of her shoulders. "Fuck, I'm so tired."
"I know, Misty, we'll be done with this in a moment, once you have some supper, we'll head to-"
"The way he and Zoe lifted my coffin out of the ground was just so-"
"ENOUGH!" Cordelia snaps, violently shaking the room simply by the ferocity of her voice, her fierceness beamed straight at Madison, who reacts by spilling the wine from her glass onto her pretty white dress. Cordelia takes a long, deep breath, composing herself with the assistance of "I'm sorry for snapping at you, Madison, I know it's been some time since you've spoken to authentic human beings and not the mindless, oblivious, bothersome demons of Hell, but you need to find your filter again. This place has transformed since your time here, the Academy has become a trustworthy, authentic Academy, a safe haven for gifted Witches, and due to the higher numbers of students, the Academy has more rules, rules that must be followed, two of which is no smoking in the house, you will take your habits outside of the Academy's gates. As for the consumption of alcoholic beverages, that is saved for special occasions, but I will forgive you for tonight; you being back is, in fact, a special occasion, regardless of the circumstances, circumstances that will never, and I mean never occur again. Michael, Zoe, am I clear with the two of you? I will not warn both of you again, next time you're considering committing yourselves to dangerous tasks, you will consult to myself and the Council, in Zoe's case, you will consult with myself, Queenie and your fiance. Clear?"
"Clear," Zoe agrees, shifting beside Kyle, who slowly and steadily grabs onto her hand, which she lovingly concedes.
"Yes, Miss Cordelia, I will," Michael accepts, standing in place, his heart pounding in his chest from the tension, or is it excitement? Michael is yet to comprehend the answer to that self-asked question.
"Thank you for agreeing to my rules, which you both should know to do in the first place, but I will digress regardless. Michael and Mallory, I'm dismissing you from this 'meeting', so you may leave. Queenie, if you could please escort Misty to my- ahem, our room and return after you're done, I will bring her some supper before she falls asleep, once I am done with all of this. Speaking of all of this, Zoe, Kyle and Madison, you stay behind; we're going to talk this out, and we're not leaving the Office until we do. Those dismissed may and should leave now, all five of us have a lot to talk about."
"Thank you, Miss Cordelia," Mallory thanks, nodding her head before abruptly leaving the room as Michael watches, no he's certain something he's wrong.
"Thank you, Miss Cordelia, I- I'm sorry again for what I did, it won't happen again," Michael promises, giving a half-assed nod before he himself exits the room in a rush, running through the halls and to his and Mallory's room, where he knows she is waiting for him. This isn't going to be pretty, a part of Michael is telling him to run and never look back, but the other part of him is making him walk through the door and into the room before quietly shutting it behind him, where he's welcomed by Mallory, who stands at the window, staring directly through it.
"Mallory, I-"
"Unless you have an excuse that doesn't include some clever wording or some witty remark, I'd rather you not attempt an apology at all."
"Zoe required my help and after she fully defined the task and her circumstances with Madison Montgomery, I couldn't exactly overlook and neglect that, could I? I've been to Hell, I know what it's like, the way it looks, it sounds, it feels, it smells, even how it tastes, Mals, and I couldn't find it in myself to leave the situation alone, to leave Madison in that abyss. Trust me, Mallory, trust me when I say, I wanted to leave it all alone; I didn't want to walk through a fucking graveyard looking for the gravestone of a woman I don't know, I didn't want to have to tear a coffin from the ground, and I most definitely didn't want to go back to Hell, the place I'd only just escaped with my life. Do you want to know what I would have preferred doing? What I would do if I could get all of that time back?"
"Yes," Mallory says, turning around and facing Michael, her eyes glassy and her face flushed in red. "Tell me."
"First, I would have spent the whole day with you, I wouldn't have had to cut our lessons short, instead, I would have been able to spend every second of this day with the one person in this world that I can't get enough of. Second, once the sunset and the night had come, I would have eaten dinner beside you, laughed and joked and spend the night the way I wanted to, with you, Mallory. With you, that's all I've ever wanted since arriving here, with you, and this time going through Hell, I wasn't sure if I was going to find my way out, and that terrified me because if that happened, I would have never gotten the chance to say goodbye to you."
"You listen to me, Michael Langdon, and you listen well," Mallory hisses, advancing towards him, her face now hunkering in front of his and her hand on the collar of his shirt, with Mallory standing on the tips of her toes just to maintain eye contact. "You'll never, ever get to say goodbye to me, you want to know why? Because you'll never have to, we promised one another, promised, that neither of us will leave the other. We're in this together, you and I, I and you, the order doesn't matter, but you can't do that to me again, okay? That's twice I've almost lost you, only this time I didn't know I almost lost you, because I wasn't- I wasn't there with you. Just think about this for me, what if the roles were swapped, what if it was me risking my life for Misty and Madison, what if you almost lost me? How you would feel if you lost me and didn't even know until it was too late? Until I was already long gone, soul perished, my soul, trapped?"
"I would undeniably, unquestionably, unmistakably lose my mind."
"So how do you think I feel? How do you think you've made me feel? How angry and upset do you think I could possibly be at this very moment?" Mallory whispers, biting her lip as she glances at his. "Answer me that, Michael Langdon."
"Mallory, I-"
Mallory loses patience, causing her lips to crash into his, the force of their kisses causing their eyes to close in response. Love and lust equally spark at her heels as she drags his face to her, kissing harder and with dominance, obviously taking the young man by surprise, no doubt, a welcomed surprise. Within seconds she loses control, her blood suddenly trades to gasoline, her body shifting to auto-pilot, pausing for only a short moment to catch her breath, only for her to drag Michael back to the kiss once she's caught her breath, to which he obliges willingly and passionately. His hands clasp on her face, his grip gentle and warm while Mallory is rough and course, but he loves it all the same because if it was only a matter of time before it came to this, before they lost control, before they trusted their feelings and did something about them. Grabbing onto his shirt, Mallory lifts it over his head only to push him onto the bed, slipping off the straps of her dress, revealing a black lacy bra and the beautiful, smooth skin that Michael had massaged the night before, the very thing Mallory asked more of, which he will happily oblige to. Slowly walking up to Michael, Mallory climbs on top of him and kisses him more, this time harder than before, causing Michael groan in pleasing discomfort, it's only when he begins kissing and biting at her neck, Mallory begins to moan and giggle in the same manner; the sounds coming from her satisfying Michael, and resulting in Mallory wanting more, much more. She finds herself from his lap and back to her feet, where she begins sliding the rest of her dress down her legs, leaving her in only her lingerie, the sight causing Michael's mouth to water in glee, but for something else to snap in his head. That's when she begins slowly and seductively walking towards him.
"What, Mals!" Michael says, stopping her in her tracks, his eyes staring down at the ground in a form of defeat. Defeat? Now? "We shouldn't- we shouldn't go that far, not yet, not now."
"Oh, I- um, I'm sorry, I should- maybe I should, I don't know."
"Hey, look at me, Mals," Michael softly says as he stands up from the bed, the sight of her turning to face away from him almost causing his heart to shatter. Has he made a mistake? Has he ruined what they have by simply saying no? He slowly and softly places his hand on her arm, only for his lips to kiss her shoulder, the wonderful feeling finally causing Mallory to turn around and face him, a look of despair and anxiety in her beautiful eyes. "I love you, Mallory Catherine, I love you to the very core of my heart, the anxiety you give me, the love you give me, I never want to let go of that, and I think taking things slow is the most appropriate thing we could do right now. We're starting a new life, a new life together, you and I against the undivided world of magic and man, that's pretty crazy if you ask me, and if you ask me, some things are just worth waiting for, don't you think? Even if we only wait another month, another fortnight, another week, it'll all be worth it in the end."
"Michael Langdon, you are a man out of this world, you know that?" Mallory scoffs, her beautiful smile peeking back into view. "How did I get so lucky?"
"You tell me, you're the one who found me," Michael chuckles, his hands clasping onto her own as he kisses her once more, eyes closed, the moonlight shining behind them.
This is truly how life should feel.