Set during 6x10, "Christmas Through Your Eyes"
A terrible mistake was made
The weight would break the backs of 10 strong horses tried to save
The castle in the fray
If you knew, that I could take the pain
Inflicted at the battle
With faithful arrows
You might get back in the saddle
But it's a special death you saved
For me the brown eyed daughter
Once you made it hotter
The thankless holy praise
Is left alone why bother
To cast a stone in water
"Special Death" - Mirah
Trigger warning: suicide, mentions of suicide
Chapter 13 - A Special Death You Saved
May 10, 1994
"Drowning?"
"Been there, done that. Lake, ocean, and bathtub."
"Pills?"
"I've already tried every prescription drug I could get my hands on," Skye informed as she paced in front of the massive, floor-to-ceiling glass windows.
Kai frowned down at the paper, crossing out yet another method with his pencil. His tongue worked in his check as he contemplated more possibilities. Soon, he was leaning back into the couch, tapping the pencil against his chin.
Skye paused in her pacing and turned away from him, surveyed the view the windows presented them. Blaring sunshine, the sharp drop off of the cliff, beyond that, the vast expanse of the bright blue Pacific.
Kai had finally convinced her into paying a trip to sunny California, and she had agreed because it was nearing a new millennium in the real world. They had decided to celebrate it with a suicide pact and by living it up for a while in the fancy, oceanside mansion. Not a celebrity's, much to Kai's dismay. Just a studio executive's.
She just liked it's easy access to the beach below, courtesy of a steep path cut in the rock of the cliff, that she was surprised Kai hadn't attempted to push her down yet.
"Hanging?" she suggested finally.
She heard him chuckle. "Three times. The first two tries really sucked, though. I miscalculated, and my neck didn't snap instantly. Let me tell you, choking to death - definitely not fun."
Skye cringed at the image his disconcertedly glib words conjured- of his flailing body, a rope tight around his throat, his hands clutching at it desperately, his face growing rapidly purple. However, her tone was biting as she swung around and retorted, "Yeah, I gathered that from the five times you've done it to me."
"You keep track?" he questioned, his tone sounding disturbed, but his eyes were shining with a wild gleam that screamed his amusement.
"It's a rough estimate," she shrugged. She came forward, and sat on the edge of the couch, next to him. She grabbed his notepad from the table while he tuned back into the biggest television she had ever seen, a rerun of The Cosby Show playing. One she knew he had watched several hundred times. She glanced down at the other methods he had written down in his lazy scrawl.
She snorted, when her eyes took in the last one.
"What?" He shifted his focus back to her.
"Starvation, really?"
"It's plausible," he defended himself. "Have you tried it?"
"Oh, no, but I would really love to see you try it, Mal.
Mr.I-can't-go-three-hours-without-shoving-something-fatty-into-my-mouth."
"Ha, ha," Kai deadpanned, engrossed in the TV once again. "Seriously, so hilarious. I don't know why you wasted your time earning a degree, when you clearly had such a talent for comedy."
She yearned to smack him with the decorative pillow at her elbow but refrained. Mostly because she would probably be inviting a much harsher retaliation, but also because it was a holiday and stipulation one of their truce was no violence. If anyone was going to finally break it, she would make damn sure it was Kai.
"We really need to pick a way, Kai," she insisted, reaching for the remote. She clicked "off," and Kai sprang up off the couch with groan.
"Oh my god," he burst out, walking off around the to the kitchen, no doubt."It's impossible to come with anything when we've already done most of it. Let's just chop each other's head off."
Skye sighed.
It was difficult, but important, though, because New Year's Eve was the next day. She had remembered the buzz the about the year 2000 back in '94, how everyone thought it would mean the end of days. That's what she was hoping for, anyway. That the much-feared "apocalypse" would somehow converge with their attempt and send her somewhere else. It could be deemed somewhat irrational to believe so, but being stuck in a timeless limbo certainly wasn't rational and she was desperate. So was Kai, apparently, telling her there might be some actual potential to the idea.
Kai reentered the room, a frozen fudge bar in hand - proving her point from earlier. She was just about to tell him so, but the oddly thoughtful look on his face tripped her up.
"What is it?" she asked.
"I just got an idea actually. What about hypothermia?"
"Surprisingly, never tried it before."
"Me either."
Trust Kai to pick a Mexican restaurant - El Compadre right on Sunset Blvd. - to commit suicide in, simply because he thought tacos would make a great last meal.
"You shouldn't murder yourself on an empty stomach," Kai chastised, wagging a finger at her as they entered. She was funny to her how he characterized suicide as another form of murder, it said a lot about him.
He started for the back, slipping behind the bar, headed through the swinging double doors to the kitchen. She surveyed the empty tables and sighed, then followed after him.
He was already standing in front of a steel table, chopping up onions. Next to him, the industrial stove with a huge skillet set up over one large burner, olive oil sizzling.
"I already found the freezer," he told her. "It's back there." He pointed the knife at the hallway behind her. She looked down it, saw the large, reinforced door of a walk-in freezer set into the wall.
"So chicken, pork, or steak?" he asked, as he pulled a basket of bell peppers from a shelf above his head.
"I'm not hungry, Kai," she said. For the state of mind she was currently in, food surely had no place. An incongruous place, if any.
"Come on, this place is stocked," he encouraged with a playful smile. "I'll chop up some cilantro. I'm also making my homemade salsa and guacamole. You don't wanna miss that."
"Yes, because mashed up six year old avocados sound yummy," she quipped as she started walking down the hallway. Kai paused in his actions to watch her leave, his disappointment easily visible in his face if she had bothered to turn around and see it. "I think I'll take my chances with the freezer early instead."
She felt the chill on her bare arms instantly. The inside of the freezer was moderate, the size of a walk-in closet. Lined with shelves and boxes of various sizes, a horizontal wire rack ran along the walls. She picked an empty spot and sat on the rack, leant up against the frosty wall - it wasn't too comfortable, but it could've been worse. She shut her eyes and propped her head against the wall.
She didn't know how much time had passed when the door swung open and Kai walked in, using the fingernails of hand to pick at his teeth, the other balanced two shot glasses filled with a clear liquid. All she knew was she was caught in a mild shiver, her hands rubbing her arms.
He sat down across from her and smirked. "That was muy bueno, by the way. Just in case you were wondering. I also got us some refreshments, on account of New Year's Eve and all. Figured you wouldn't refuse this."
He extended one glass out to her. She moved forward to take it from his grip and downed it expertly. Tequila. It was smooth, so expensive. She was glad for his good taste in this particular arena. She leaned back again and closed her eyes.
It was completely silent then, save for the gentle hum of the freezer. She didn't mind it, but that meant Kai would fill it in… three … two... one. "We should play a game," Kai suggested. She resisted a snort.
"You talk too damn much," she grumbled. "Can't I just freeze to death in peace?"
"Like 'Truth or Dare,'" he persisted.
"Neither of which hold any stakes here with you."
"And that means?"
She opened her eyes and gazed at him sourly. "We're the last two people on Earth, dares mean nothing. Dares are meant to embarrass the person doing them for the amusement of the darers. People only get embarrassed by other people's reactions. There's no point here. Besides," she continued, pulling her legs up on the racks, bending them at her chest, "I already know you're shameless, and I'm not doing anything for your amusement. The same goes for the truth - you'd never tell it and I'd never believe what comes out of your mouth anyway."
He pursed his lips. "Fine, let's share some juicy secrets," he said. "No, wait. 'Two Truths and a Lie' - that's something my insipid sisters used to play back in the day."
Skye felt a pang of despair at the mention of his sisters. "Again, that ties back to truth, something you're incapable of. For you, the game is 'Three Lies and Internal Snickering.'"
A shit-eating grin split his face."Oh, I'll be honest, babe. Painfully so."
"I guess you wouldn't have it any other way, Mal." He could talk all he wanted, that didn't mean she had to participate.
"So, I'll go first," he said, deceptively earnest. "One - Pam Anderson is hot. Two - I was actually the favorite child of my family. Three - I always knew about the stash of cookies you hid from me in the upper left kitchen cabinet in our apartment."
Despite her disinclination to participate, she felt compelled to respond to that one. "You're supposed to make it difficult, Kai." Then, rolling her eyes, she added, "And about yourself. And not as something as trivial as my secret cookies."
He shrugged, looking extra pale in the light of the lone light bulb from the corner. "Consider it a beginner's mistake. Your turn."
Her chest seized up as her mind lingered on his "lie." It was the cold, had to be. It was causing all her muscles to stiffen. Nevertheless, she now wanted to humor him - it had the potential to be equally funny and devastating.
"Fine. Let's see. One - I've always hated your chicken parmesan. I literally dreaded coming home every night I knew you were making it. Two... I had a pregnancy scare that I never told you about because it was too early in our relationship. Three - I cheated on you once."
Yes, the expression on his face after her statement just then - hilarious because it was a cross between hostility,astonishment, and befuddlement. Like he couldn't figure out which one to address first, which ones could possibly true, or which bothered him more.
Slowly, his lips curled up into an appreciative smile. "You're good at this."
She shrugged. "I had a lot of practice. Lots of sleepovers with people I liked to call my 'friends.' You know what those are, right?"
That had meant to be a dig, but he ignored it in favor of being contemplative for a moment, releasing a loud exhale. "I'm gonna go with the first one."
Now, she was astounded and burst out in disbelief, "Really, Kai? You'd rather I cheated on you than hate a meal you made?"
He stared at her impassively. She sighed - she did a lot of sighing lately, it seemed. The air leaving her mouth became steam in front of her. "I didn't, FYI. The cheating thing was the lie."
"It wouldn't have mattered if you had - the guy wouldn't have been around for me to hunt down anyway."
Here, her whole body suffered a particularly violent convulsion, but deep down she felt a perverse warmth at the thought of him jealous and violent over her. She remembered how she construed those moments of his jealousy and possessiveness back in the early 90s as the closest confirmation she got of his feelings for her since he never voiced them. She knew the truth now - that he would use any excuse for violence, to stamp down any challenges to his perceived dominance - but it still didn't stop her first natural reaction. God, she was messed up.
Kai still looked untouched by the chill, probably the jacket he still wore. Him and his compulsive need to wear layers.
"And I wouldn't need to be worried?" she ventured curiously.
"Nah," he said softly. "I mean, sure, I would've been apoplectic. But I would've probably gotten over it... after I doled out some punishments, of course." There it was. She pondered what his "punishments" would entail - bloodshed, definitely. He was fascinated by her blood, she had discovered during one particularly painful, but quick ambush in Albuquerque three years before. Loss of limb, maybe - he had expressed an interest in experimenting with their attempts, to see if they could regenerate body parts Burning, perhaps. His affinity for fire was second only to his fondness for knives. His face betrayed no hint of his would-be intentions, he just looked calm. Inscrutable.
He distracted from her musings with a question of his own."So when was this pregnancy scare?"
"After the first couple of times."
His gaze turned speculative. "Have you ever had one while we've been here?"
"N-no." Her teeth had started chattering. They fell into silent again as the weighty declaration settled over them. She had never given much thought to the fact that, despite their several impromptu (so therefore usually) unprotected sexual encounters in the Prison World, she had never had a pregnancy scare. Perhaps, they were so far in between that they weren't effective… but it only took one time. Maybe she was just unable to conceive or he was sterile. Who knew? Not like they could run tests on themselves to find out and she wasn't too worried about it.
No, she was growing drowsy and numb, her teeth clicking together at a rapid pace, and she soon realized that she wasn't too worried about anything at the moment. Not even Kai when he came out of his reverie and resumed the game. "It's my turn again, right?"
Her eyes were closed once again, her body heavy, slumped against the wall.
"Skye?"
"Hmm?" She heard movement, the clanging of metal against the floor, and she peaked one eye open to see him standing, on his way to her, his movements slightly sluggish.
He sat next to her and shrugged off his jacket, revealing his Alice in Chains T-shirt and bare forearms. He shuddered involuntarily before he wrapped one arm around her shoulder, sweeping her into his relative warmth. She didn't feel it. "You're beating me. I don't know how I feel about that," he told her, frowning.
Her head was resting heavily on his shoulder now, her skin freezing even through the material of his T-shirt, but he suspected she didn't even know. She was on her way to losing the capability of speech, it seemed, and awareness. It made sense that she succumbed to the coldness before he did - being smaller than him and having spent a more considerable amount of time in the freezer before he came in.
He could feel the warmth being zapped from him in large, blistering waves. Not to mention his boredom building to epic proportions. He was still capable of clear thought, and he was dwelling on things he usually worked hard to keep on the fringe of his conscious mind. The cold was getting to it, to him, with repeated shivers and some surface numbness, but not nearly as quickly as it should to his interior.
It slipped out of him before he could stop it. "Babe, can I ask you a question?"
She shifted slightly, her red-tipped nose rubbing up against his neck, and he took that as an undeniable encouragement. "Why did you start calling me Mal?"
He waited, thought he heard a mumbling in return. He bent his head until his ear was near Skye's mouth. "What?"
"S' reminder," she rasped. A reminder? A reminder of what, exactly? He was tempted to ask, but he doubted he would get much else out of her in this state.
Although, he knew she had known about his true given name before the Prison World, (she had glimpsed it when she had demanded to see his driver's license in order to check its validity) he was pretty sure she had never thrown it back in his face until they were imprisoned here. And she seemed to reserve it for special situations, had worked out her own rhyme and reason of when to use it. He just hadn't been able to figure out what it was, and it was driving him crazy… crazier. He wanted to strangle her every time it passed through her lips.
Soon, Skye was completely still next to him, and the cold was creeping under his skin, getting to him. He ground his teeth together, to keep them from chattering. He harbored an overwhelming urge to sleep, but he had wanted another turn on their game. "One -," he said, "I really hate you sometimes. Two - I hate him even more. Three - I think about it, you know. What would've happened if I had just gone home with you that night?" His own voice sounded gravelly to him. He cleared his throat, though, for no reason as he planned on keeping silent, thinking about Seattle (which had been his idea, initially) and what could've been until he froze to death. And he did.
An hour later, he jerked awake, gasping. But he felt normal, his arms cold, but the rest of his body temperature had returned to normal, though they were still occupying the freezer, which was still functioning fine as he far as he could tell.
Skye was awake and huddled in his arms, probably trying to converse the warmth she now had and tapping into his. "It didn't work," she said, her voice tremulous. "Surprise, surprise."
Well, that had been anticlimactic.
He glanced at his multi-colored Swatch. It was after midnight now. "Happy New Year's, babe. You gonna kiss me?" he asked, stifling the niggling defeat and anger. They were promised another eternity together here, they might as well seal the deal.
She rolled her eyes and tried to pull away, but his hand was already clasping her jaw, drawing her face back up. The kiss wasn't his usual demanding ones - it was simple. She would call it "sweet," but it contained harsh notes of bitterness as well, because they had failed again. Because they were stuck with each other again. Because it was still May 10th, 1994 no matter what they did.
It also didn't last long. After sucking on her lower lip for a few seconds, he pulled back. "Let's get out of here. We still haven't hit up George Lucas's house yet."
They were on their way out of the front door of the restaurant and into the warmer air of downtown L.A. when he mentioned casually, "You know, I've read about this museum in D.C. that has a guillotine."
Skye was deducing quickly that something really strange was going on, but it had nothing to do with the woman that laid, unconscious, inside the crypt behind her. Or the fact that Kai had pulled out a long, sturdy-looking stick - the last thing he needed, in her opinion - from under a bush and was currently dragging in the dirt, creating a straight line several feet long. Frankly, Kai acting strange was normal. Also nothing to do with the magically imbued knife he had stowed away, resting in his interior jacket pocket. Or Liv and Luke and their equal expressions of perplexity as they observed Kai's actions.
"What the hell is he doing?" Olivia asked her twin.
Skye barely heard them, too distracted by her suspicions, which were all centered on the dark purple mark Kai sported on his neck, identical to her own hickey - in the exact same spot. His, though, displayed prominently and proudly while she had strategically hidden her's under a swath of hair, pulled forward over her shoulder.
No, she was completely bewildered because she hadn't noticed it the whole morning until they had made their way outside the mausoleum. But mostly because she didn't remember giving him one last night either during her lapse of good judgment, as she had decided she was going to call it. So it begged several questions: where the hell had he gotten it? From that girl whose blood he had come back to Tyler's house covered in? Her chest started burning again.
Except, then it wouldn't be just like her's - exact color, shape, and size.
Her brows furrowed, she stood off to Kai's side as he finished up his line and turned to face Lucas and Olivia, stabbing the stick into the ground and leaning on it, his typical, complacent expression in place.
"Probably playing tic-tac-toe with himself, like a crazy person," Luke answered her.
Skye snorted, crossing her arms. "You know, I have actually seen him do that before. It really is the funniest thing because, somehow - and I've never understood this - the cat always wins."
All three spared her a glance - the twins unsure, possibly a bit surprised that she had spoken at all since she hadn't from when she assured them she was not Kai's girlfriend or most likely suspecting her to be as unstable as their sociopathic brother. Kai's glance, however, was withering. She just smiled innocently back at him until he refocused his attention back on his siblings.
"Actually," he said, waving a finger at the line he'd drawn in the dirt. "This is the anti-magic border." He pointed his finger at the side the twins occupied. "Jo can get her magic back over there, while over here - "
Suddenly, the rattling of chains and a cry reached them from inside the crypt. "What did you do to me?"
Kai smirked, though his tone and look was ominous. "Sissy's up." He sauntered forward towards the entrance of the mausoleum, dropping the stick to the ground carelessly. Skye quickly followed him, with a strong sense of foreboding settling over her, the twins coming after her.
Jo was struggling with her chains, agitated. "What the hell did you do to me?" she shouted as soon as she saw Kai, then she froze, the sounds of the chains abruptly stopping, as Skye walked in after him.
Josette's eyes, sharper than Skye remembered, zeroed in on her. "Skye?" Her tone conveyed a quiet shock. Once again, Skye was stricken with uncertainty; she didn't know how to react to Jo. So, she didn't do anything except hang back as Kai approached Jo, stopping to stand at her feet.
"No, Kai," Kai broke in, sardonically, waving a hand in her face. "Your twinsie, remember? You haven't seen me in eighteen years, and you can't even muster a hello?"
She ignored him, her gaze directed at Lucas and Olivia, who kept close to the entrance. "What did you guys do?"
Both wore steely expressions. "What you should've done eighteen years ago," Olivia said firmly.
Jo looked away to glare up at Kai. "It's not gonna work, Kai. I don't have my ma-"
"Magic," Kai interrupted, crouching down. "Yeah, I recall. You stored it in this." He reached into his jacket and pulled out the wicked knife with a smile. Jo grew instantly alarmed, for good reason, as he immediately stabbed her in the arm.
Skye flinched.
Jo started shrieking in pain, while Kai held his palm flat against her cheek.
"What the hell!" Luke exclaimed.
Kai spoke through his teeth. "I'm trying to reunite Jo with her magic." He punctuated "magic" with another stab to the same place, Jo cried out again.
"Kai," Skye gritted out, step closer to him. Definitely intervention time.
But Kai had desisted on his own, lowering the knife, examining Jo's face, where he held his hand, closely. "It's not working," he muttered.
Luke came forward, grabbing Kai's shoulder. "Enoug-"
He was cut off as Kai pushed him back aggressively, knocking into Skye. She staggered back, catching her balance at the last moment, as Kai slammed Luke up against the wall next to the door, grasping his collar and holding the knife aloft, just several inches from Luke's throat.
"I was willing to kill you when your brain was the size of an acorn," he said, his voice barely above a whisper but still deadly."You don't think I'll do it now?"
Skye glanced at Liv and Jo. Liv looked indifferent but Jo desperately pulled at her chains.
Swallowing, Skye took a few steps and inserted herself in the space between them, causing Kai to step back.
She faced him, determined, as he gazed down at her stonily, his hand still poised in mid-air, the knife hovering over left shoulder.
"You know, you can threaten as many people you want, but …," she trailed off, prompting him.
Kai sighed. "But what, Skye?"
She smiled - her artificial smile, reserved just for him. "Frankly, you're just kinda wasting time."
Kai's eyes narrowed before he pursed his lips. His eyes on the knife, he brought it down until the tip of it caressed her collarbone, smearing some of Jo's blood on the collar of her shirt. Slowly, he then used the blunt edge of the knife to lift and push her hair back over her shoulder - the part that had been concealing the left side of her neck. Skye only vaguely registered Liv's and Jo's gasps as absorbed as she was now eyeing Kai's own blemish. He smirked at her when she finally meet his gaze again, her vindictive smile already fallen.
"Okay, this is too weird," Luke said, slipping out from behind Skye. "I'm not watching this." He walked out. Liv watched his exit forlornly.
Kai pulled away from Skye, breaking her transfixion, and started laughing. Liv's eyes shifted to him, her expression transforming into one that held fear, wariness, and a hint of hatred. Skye thought her face undoubtedly closely resembled Liv's just then.
"Ugh, so dramatic," he mocked, turning to his twin again, who still sat on the floor. Jo's breathing was labored as she tried to nurse her wound with her opposite hand. Skye moved forward, around Kai, stepping closer to the injured woman, wanting to offer assistance and comfort but also totally at a loss of how to without inviting Kai's anger. So she only stood off to her left side, grimacing at the woman's effort.
"Alright, sissy," Kai started, moving until he knelled at her feet again, bloody knife still in hand. "Let's try this again."
"Stop," Jo begged weakly then her voice gained conviction as she continued, "I put my magic in there by choice. Taking it back is also my choice."
Kai tilted his head, suspicious of her reasoning.
"Skye was right, you know. About wasting time. Because I can't make a choice if I bleed to death. Which will happen in the next thirty minutes." She smiled at the end of this announcement, and let out a harsh laugh. Skye couldn't help her own smile either as she observed Kai's unamused face. "Wouldn't it be ironic," she taunted, "if you accidently killed me before the Merge ceremony?"
Skye decided, in that moment, that she really liked older Jo. Younger Jo had struck her as naive, a little weak-willed, but this woman in front of her had obviously been through a lot and came out better for it in the end.
Kai seemed to consider her words, leaving his vexation behind. He cast an assessing glance up to Skye for a moment before he stood.
He turned to Skye, coming close, his free hand drifting to touch the side of her neck, his thumb brushing against the bruise there. "I'm going to go find a bandage," he intoned, his voice soft and serious, cajoling. "But I know you'll remember our conditions while I'm gone, right? Otherwise, no more secret trips to the library."
She didn't answer or make any sign of acknowledgement, but it piqued her interest. Because the way he phrased that last part - "secret trips to the library" - he made it sound like a euphemism. But the way he was gazing at her now, insistent and expectant, made her think he had, in fact, turned the phrase into a private one. What did it mean? Was he offering the promise of further incentives or privileges if she actually adhered to those conditions while he was gone?
"Skye," he said forcefully, squeezing her throat, pressing his thumb into her bruise. Her mind instantly flashed back to the morning he had awoken her by bouncing obnoxiously on the bed and greeted her with the same treatment - the morning that was supposed to be their last in the Prison World until Bonnie had magically sling-shot a pickaxe into his chest. He had tried to bargain with her then, too. She had refused to fall for it.
Now, she nodded, and Kai smiled, almost beatifically, at her and let go. He strode purposefully to Liv. She was pressed up against the wall beside the doorway as if it could protect her from him.
"So, your job is to figure out how to put the magic from this knife into our sister," he told her, holding the knife's hilt out to her. She grabbed it from him awkwardly. He passed by her but paused for a moment, turning back. "Preferably by the time I get back, so I don't have to dull it by slitting your throat."
Skye had to give Liv credit - she didn't react, let out a watery sigh of relief, until after he had departed.
Skye waited until he was out of sight too before she dropped down on her knees next to Jo, her hands immediately going to woman's injury, gingerly applying pressure. Jo startled briefly but then relaxed.
Skye focused her eyes on her fingers as they became coated in blood, avoiding Jo's eyes.
But Jo's next words had her head snapping up: "You were hiding them, weren't you?"
Skye intuited immediately what she talking about, because what else could she be talking about?
"Hiding who?" Liv questioned, approaching them. Jo kept her gaze on Skye.
"My father was so convinced you were helping him," Jo went on. "But you were hiding them from him."
"I was," she confirmed finally after a tense moment, in which she had two Parker women staring her down intensely - one with melancholy, the other suspiciously.
Jo's answering smile was more spirited. "I was right then."
Skye's chest felt a little looser, a little lighter; it was pleasing that her efforts that terrible night were finally being acknowledged by someone.
Liv, realizing that Jo and Skye were going to let her in on the secret anytime soon, reached over, brushed her hand against Jo's wound, pushing away Skye's. Liv's own was shaking, and she looked clearly distressed.
Jo was calm as she reassured her, "It'll be okay. I just needed to get rid of Kai so you can free me."
Liv pulled back, her face now grim. "Look, Jo, you can't run away from this anymore. You had eighteen years of freedom. Now," - she lifted the knife up between them - "take your magic back and do this. You owe it to the coven."
Skye could now understand why Kai had classified her as abrasive.
"Is that what you think?" Jo asked, disheartened. "That I've been shirking my responsibility to our family?"
"Luke's all I've got," Liv persisted, her eyes filling up again, her voice catching. "If we merge and he dies, I may as well be dead too."
"If Kai merges with me, he'll be more powerful than any of us," Jo maintained.
"I don't get it," Skye cut in. Both heads whipped around to her. "What makes him so strong? I thought he didn't even have his own power?"
"He doesn't," Jo said, "But he can absorb all of mine during the ceremony, giving him permanent magic, sure, but he'll still have the ability to siphon anybody else's. Extra boasts anytime he needs one."
"Yeah, but did it ever occur to you maybe you're strong enough to beat him?" Liv countered. "You were twenty-two the last time you went up against him. Since then, you've been a combat medic. You've saved hundreds of lives. Your hospital worships you."
Skye couldn't help the genuine smile that stole across her face. Jo certainly had gone on to achieve a lot of good. Jo looked touched and chuckled, "Someone's done her research."
"You're my sister," Liv said softly. "And I'm yours. Look how far you've come without magic." Liv stood, offering up a faint smile. "You didn't get here listening to people tell you you weren't strong enough." Liv extended the knife. Jo looked at it, at first a little fearful but then her expression grew determined.
Skye saw him too late, didn't even have time to shout a warning as he creeped up behind Liv and grasped her shoulders, his hands glowing orange where they made contact with her jacket. She screamed.
"Liv!" Jo yelled.
"Kai!" Skye shouted.
Liv slumped, whimpering, Kai's hands on her shoulders the only thing holding her upright.
"Can't say I didn't warn her," he said darkly.
Skye stood quickly, stepped towards them, but he released his hold unceremoniously, let her fall to her knees on the stone floor.
He took a breath in, with his hands held out in front of him, looking exhilarated.
Skye stopped unconsciously, floored by the sight of his rapturous expression.
He flipped his hand over and closed his eyes. His palm down, he centered it over Liv's head. "Phasmatos superous em animi."
Liv clutched her head, more whimpers escaping, blood dripping from her nose.
Skye shook herself, then reached and grabbed his forearm. "Kai, stop," she commanded lowly. His eyes snapped open, stern and warning, but his lips curved into a vicious smirk.
"Kai!" Jo yelled.
"Is it gonna be funny when I kill her using her own magic?" Desperate, Skye pulled roughly on his arm, hoping to break his connection. But then his other hand was coming down on her shoulder, and she found herself frozen suddenly. She couldn't move at all, even to open her mouth. "Wait, wait, is that funny or sad? I get my emotions mixed up," he said before he asked Jo, "Hey, what's the one for fire again? It's incendia, right?" Raising his hand, he said, "Phasmatos In-"
Letting out a louder shriek, Liv fell to her side
"Kai, enough!" Jo cried, grabbing the knife from the floor where Liv had dropped it. Kai stopped his attack on Liv, attentive to Jo's actions.
She held it in front of her and chanted, "Lectos espiritox. Lectos espiritox." As she chanted, wind blew threw the room, stirring up leaves. Paradoxically, the candlesticks of the candelabras in the mausoleum's corners went aflame. Kai withdrew his hand from Skye's shoulder and she could move again.
Immediately, she shoved his chest, but he barely budged and caught her hands. Nearly crushing them, he clucked in disapproval. "We can get physical later, babe. Now's not the time."
She yanked back her hands, huffing. "You're revolting."
"Ooh, a new one. I like it."
He side-stepped her, approaching his sister who had just finished her chant. The wind died down, and he kneeled in front of her.
Skye went to Liv's side, who was curled up, recovering. Skye put a hand out, started rubbing her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, but Liv's eyes and focus were fixed intently upon the twins adjacent to them.
Jo had opened her eyes, and Kai was raising his hands slowly. They hovered over her cheeks and the telltale orange glow could be seen in the space between. Jo was staring at Kai strangely, Skye could guess what his face probably looked like, recalling the exhilarated expression from before when he siphoned Liv. Not too far from his "O" face, if she was being honest. No wonder he wanted his own magic so badly.
"There it is," Kai whispered, before he drew away and stood, shaking his head. "Ugh, so predictable. I threaten Liv, you do anything it takes to save Liv."
"Fractos,"Jo muttered, bring her hands up forcefully. Her manacles broke just as a random whistle sounded from outside. Kai whirled around then started for the door. Skye stood.
Kai glanced out cautiously, Skye right on his heels, but she waited at the doorway as he walked out, his gaze darting around, trying to pinpoint the source.
He continued walking until, suddenly, he was flying back through the air into a tree after a blurred figure had rushed him. Skye cringed and hissed, as she felt pain erupt along her own spine, robbing her of breath.
"Skye?" came Jo's voice, anxious.
Kai landed on the ground and then Skye was allowed a clear view of his attacker. Damon. The vampire looked the same as the last time she saw him, getting swept up by the light of the Ascendant, except now he was dressed more stylishly.
"A cemetery? Really?" he snarked as Kai struggled to sit up.
Kai lifted his hand. "Motus."
Damon was pushed back by an invisible force across the line Kai had drawn in the dirt. Damon instantaneously started burning from the sun, angry, red blisters popping up on all parts of his exposed skin. Groaning, he stepped back across the line and began recovery while Skye stepped further out of the doorway, ignoring Jo's call of her name, with the hope Kai that wouldn't notice her movements, trying to decide when to break in and alert Damon of her presence.
Kai was too focused on his assailant as he walked around Damon, passing over the line himself, smirking. "Whoops, looks like you found the anti-magic border. I drew a line in the dirt for everyone's convenience. See?" He swiped his boot through the divot he made, kicking up dirt. "Yeah, you're welcome."
Skye chose that moment to proceed forward finally, coming out of the shadow of the doorway. "Damon!" she cried. Damon pivoted, but her eyes had drifted to a man she had never seen before sneaking up behind Kai, who looked completely unaware of the threat and positively livid at her interruption.
"Ka-" she started, but then stopped as she was seized from behind, one arm around her neck, a hand on her mouth. Instinctively, she bit down hard on the hand. Almost automatically, it was ripped away.
"Ow! Did you just bite me?" Damon sounded bemused. "Ric - she bit me."
Ric - a man who looked older than Damon and more rugged - was a little busy, however, to acknowledge Damon as he concentrated on restraining a now murderous-looking Kai, holding a gun to his head. Though, he shot Damon an exasperated look.
"I thought I was the vampire here," Damon continued, wryly, right in her ear. "Biting's my thing."
Skye fidgeted uncomfortably. "It was reflex, sorry." She didn't take to kindly to being grabbed and her mouth being covered.
"No, it's fine since I just decided that I don't care, and you don't get to talk," Damon rebuked, repressed anger now coloring his tone, and he tightened his grip. "You left Bonnie there."
"What? I didn't!" Skye protested, shocked at his reception. "Not willingly."
"You're still helping him."
"Ask him," she insisted indignantly, jerking her head at Kai. "I've probably been more of a hindrance than a help."
But Kai kept his malicious stare trained on the arm Damon had wrapped around her neck.
"Doesn't matter," Damon said, then addressed Ric with his next words. "Kill him."
"No!" The words tumbled out of Skye's mouth before she could think to stop them but her objections were overshadowed by another's - Jo's as she rushed out of the mausoleum, clutching one hand to her injured arm.
"Ric, don't!"
Ric was dumbfounded. "What are you talking about?"
"She's light-headed and confused. I'll give her some of my blood, okay? Kill him," Damon insisted.
Kai squirmed, trying to break away, but Ric readjusted his grip on the gun, pressing the barrel more firmly to the back of Kai's head. Skye began struggling against Damon's hold, but not to much avail.
"No, you can't," Jo argued. "If Kai dies, Liv and Luke have to do the Merge. It's not fair to them."
"Who cares?" Damon burst out. "Kill him."
Ric cocked the gun, and Skye, unthinking, struggled with renewed effort until she saw Kai's expression. He appeared less malevolent and more assured now, more arrogant as Ric pressed the gun to his face.
"Ric, don't," Jo begged. "I can win. I can beat Kai." She seemed confident in her declarations.
Kai's face didn't change, however. Skye realized he now held the upper hand again. Even with a gun pressed to his temple, he still held the upper hand. He always did.
"I just need a little time to get stronger," Jo said, less confidently.
"We're moved, truly, " Damon quipped. "Kill him. Now."
Kai was smirking, his eyes locked with Skye's, and she could tell he was enthralled in the tension of the moment, waiting for the verdict, sure any threat of his imminent demise was over, knowing he was winning again, as Ric shifted, strengthening his hold on Kai, deliberating.
"I'll figure out a way to win," Jo promised, pleading. "Please. You have to trust me. Keep him alive."
"Ric," Damon warned.
The last sight Skye saw was the butt of the gun coming down hard on Kai's temple, and, oddly, she felt a searing pain in her own temporal region before everything went completely black.
"I don't know, Damon! You could be right. I've been a little removed from magic for awhile."
"I'm just saying that bitch Katherine - may she rest in hell - did something something similar to Elena once. We stabbed her, Elena got a stab wound, etc. Maybe, the freak did the same to her - linked them for whatever twisted reason."
This is what Skye woke up to, another argument between Jo and Damon. She opened her eyes to find Jo kneeling on the ground of the clearing, bent over her. Damon stood next to her, his arms crossed, looking annoyed.
Skye tried to sit up, and Jo helped her, muttering, "Easy." Her head was pounding again, and she felt dizzy.
"The freak can hear you, and he's wondering why you just don't ask him. " Kai's carried to them from some distance away. "But he'll save you the trouble of over-working your inferior brains. You, for once, were right, Damon. I did bind us - for reasons that are not any of your business."
The sound of his voice cleared her dizziness look enough for something else to take it's place, deep and poisonous - unadulterated rage. Everything suddenly made sense - the mysterious identical hickey on his neck, why she had felt the pain of his injury.
She shot to her feet, ripping her hand out of Jo's. Her vision turned black momentarily, but she strode forward, nonetheless, to find him. She passed over the dirt boundary, finally spotted his feet sticking out from behind a large tombstone. She walked around it and took in the state of him.
"Hey, babe," he said, so nonchalantly, like he wasn't sitting, chained up to a grave.
"You complete and utter bastard."
She aimed a vicious kick at his booted ankle, but cursed as she felt the pain rebound in her own. She nearly shrieked aloud, not from pain but from all the wrath and frustration boiling in her gut, reaching a fever pitch inside of her.
She had to admit it was an evil genius move on his part, assuming that the people here would place any value on her relatively more innocent life. But also risky because that was all it hinged on.
And he just looked so smug. Something inside her splintered.
"Maybe, I should kill myself," she threatened. "Save everyone the grief.".
"Skyler," he growled, the arrogance vacating his expression quickly, his tone brokering no nonsense.
"No, I think I'm an expert at it now..." She was growing hysterical. She could hear it in her own voice, but couldn't stop. "Which do you think will be more effective, Mal? Pills or a shotgun?"
"Skye," Jo cut in, concerned.
"Okay, she's getting on my good side again," Damon said glibly to Ric, who had just walked back onto the scene, gone temporarily escorting Liv back to her car.
Skye didn't even hear them or Ric's arrival, couldn't for the roaring in her ears, entirely focused on the chained, sneering man in front of her.
"Maybe I can use that magic knife of yours, finally slit my throat with it," she taunted further. "That would be poetic, right?"
His fists clenched around the chains, his knuckles turning white. "More like hilariously pathetic," he pronounced. Then, with a mocking smile aimed straight at her, he continued, "Besides, we both know you wouldn't be able to take me out if you tried."
Did he magically forget about all the times she had done just that in the prison world? She knew she was perfectly capable of it, and with that thought in her mind, she decided to call his bluff. Preparing to wrap her hands around his narrow neck, she lunged at him.
A chorus of "Whoa!"s broke out from their audience. She still didn't register them.
Skye's fingers had only brushed his face by the time strong arms were around her midsection, pulling her back off her feet, and dragging her away from the line of tombstones, Kai's boisterous laughter echoing behind them.
She struggled against the person - Ric, she finally saw - and was able to break away, turning back to Kai's direction before she stumbled into Damon's chest. He grabbed her shoulders, and she grunted, grappling with him once more. He didn't even have to strain himself to hold her at bay. Stupid vampires. "Calm down, P.G.," he said. "You might be a very pissed off woman right now, but you're no match for a vampire, trust me."
She jerked back away from him, and he let her go, throwing his hands up in surrender. She started forward again, trying to get around him, but then there was a gentle pressure on her wrist. "Stop, Skye. Please, you'll only end up hurting yourself."
Skye paused to look at Jo, her eyes alight with warm compassion, eyes that were identical to Kai's, and wondered how two people could come from the same place, but be so very different.
"Skye, what did he just call you?" Kai's voice travelled to them again.
He was ignored, as the others stood, staring at her. Ric tensed, ready to catch her if she made another dart in Kai's direction. Jo still worried, her hand still clasped to Skye's wrist. Damon just look entertained, his smirk increased in size at Kai's question. Skye's face was hot from embarrassment.
"Come on, Skye." Jo tugged on her wrist. "You're coming with me and Ric."
Skye didn't resist, and she didn't look back as they departed, leaving Damon behind on the other side of the dirt line.
"See ya soon, babe," Kai called after her.
Her ire was cooling, and extreme anxiety was taking its place, causing a pit in her stomach, the more distance she put between herself and Kai. She hated it - she should've been profoundly relieved for some separation, to be in the hands of people that were stable, that could help her. Yet ... she wasn't at all, not even a bit.
Alaric and Jo were talking outside of the Jeep they'd led her to while Skye sat in the backseat, her head tipped back against the headrest. She was trying not to eavesdrop and so far she was succeeding in tuning them out. She watched them embrace, Ric wrapping a blanket around Jo that he had pulled out of the car through an open window. She looked away when he kissed her. She was just glad Jo had found somebody that could protect her from this supernatural mess.
Skye came to attention as the car doors opened and Ric and Jo got in.
"You're staying at my place, " Jo told her, turning to face Skye from the passenger seat. "But we're stopping by the hospital first. I need a colleague to stitch me up, and I wanna get you check out."
"I'm fine, there's really no need for that," she reassured. It would be too awkward for her, she hadn't been in that type of situation for almost two decades.
But Jo wasn't having none of it. "I know you didn't get knocked out directly, but you still might have a concussion. Also, I want to bandage that cut on your forehead and get you check over anyway. Who knows what's your immunity's like, after spending all that time in the Prison World." She had a good point, Skye begrudgingly admitted.
So Alaric drove them the forty five minutes back to Whitmore, and dropped them at the hospital. Jo's parting message causing Skye's anxiety to skyrocket. "Don't let him hurt Kai."
Her nerves didn't get better either as she waited on a plastic chair for Jo's friend, a sweet, meek resident she introduced as Jose, to stitch up her arm. Fifteen minutes later, he finished and exited, giving both of them a small smile, then Jo patted the padded, examine table she had just slipped off, telling Skye, "To jump up."
Skye obeyed while Jo walked to the over the cabinet in the corner of the room, retrieving medical items.
"What will they do to him?" Skye asked, not being able to help herself.
Jo didn't pause in her quest. "Ric said they'd lock him up until I'm ready to take him on. I think Damon has a cellar or something designed specifically for supernatural problem-people."
Skye didn't think Kai would take too kindly to that.
Jo walked back over, setting her supplies down on the table beside Skye's legs. "Could you take off your jacket please?"
Skye pulled off her jacket, tossing it to the chair across from her, and Jo gasped loudly. Skye was confused until she saw what had caught the now older woman's attention. The dark green bruises on her wrists - Jo reached out and grabbed her wrists in a delicate grip, studying them. Jo looked up and stared at Skye. Skye couldn't bear the pity she saw there and averted her gaze, cursing Kai in her head.
"When did you get these?" she asked.
Skye shrugged. "A couple days ago."
"Well, they're healing at a normal rate," Jo said, retracting her hands. "That's good. Usually a sign of a normal immune system."
Skye supposed so.
Jo set to work on Skye's cut, swabbing some disinfectant over it before pressing butterfly strips to it. "That bruise should be gone soon, too, then," Jo told her about the bruise on her forehead, accompanying the cut.
Skye thought she saw Jo eyeing the hickey too, but she didn't say anything else, except for when she pulled away and informed that they were done.
Skye jumped down from the table and headed back to the chair to pick up her jacket.
"Skye, I wanted-" Jo broke off.
Skye turned curiously in Jo's direction - the doctor looked hesitant, struggling for words. Finally, Skye saw resolve in her eyes. "I wanted to apologize, actually."
"For what?" Skye asked, nonplussed.
Jo stayed silent for a long, tense moment, which spawned actual cold, gut clenching fear in Skye, before she spoke again. "Skye, I was the one...who talked my father into putting you in the prison world with Kai," she confessed. Skye felt like the air had been sucked clean from her lungs. Like she was going to start choking on her tongue. "My dad would've killed you, Skye," Jo rushed to add. "And I didn't think, back then, that Kai would've harm you since he hadn't that night."
The harm had been relative that night, Skye thought, as her panic dissipated.
Jo bowed her head, ashamed. "Obviously, I was wrong about that. So, I am truly sorry."
But Skye was shaking her head vigorously. "You don't have to apologize to me about anything, Josette. None of this was your fault." No, it was Kai's. It would always be Kai's in her eyes.
Jo smiled sadly. "Please call me Jo."
Skye smiled back feebly and nodded, feeling like she couldn't be more exhausted and emotionally drained than she had been on this day, having gone through the full spectrum in just a few hours.
Jo continued pensively, " You know, when I told you were different that day, I had meant that you weren't a witch - like his previous girlfriends who had barely lasted a minute because he stole their magic from them."
Skye dropped to the chair, her body suddenly weak. She wasn't too keen on hearing about Kai's past girlfriends, but she listened anyway, knowing that Jo had a point.
"I thought him being so serious about you - you know, bringing you home to meet all of us - you were the first girl he ever did that with. I just thought it signified that he was beginning to realize he could lead a satisfactory and fulfilling life without magic. A life I wanted, a life I would've done anything for then." She released a bitter laugh. "I guess I overestimated him," she concluded glumly.
A severe overestimation, in Skye's opinion. Skye was guilty of the opposite - an underestimation - of his own hold on his sanity.
Abruptly, there was a knock on the door. Jose peaked his head back in. "There's a phone call for you at the nurse's station, Jo," he said before he retreated, closing the door.
"Excuse me," Jo said, starting for the door. "It's probably Ric, I have to take it."
She left, and Skye took several deep breaths, trying to reign her emotions. She soon felt a vibration at her hip.
Her brow furrowed, she pulled the device she forgot she even had out of her pocket. The letters "KAI" and a number flashed across the screen as it continued to buzz.
Skye gulped and didn't act, though she figured pressing the green button like symbol would connect the call. It stopped buzzing. Several second later, the vibration started again.
Skye was ready to throw it across the room. She was saved from the impulse as Jo re-entered the exam room, looking windswept. Skye pushed the phone back into her pocket hurriedly, hopefully before Jo could notice it.
"Kai got away," Jo informed, breathless.
Skye had already figured that out, and she wasn't surprised.
A/N: So I'm really ambivalent about this chapter - I was trying to write it quickly, so sorry if it feels rushed! I hope you guys like it, anyway.
Thanks so much to all the people who keep adding Bloodsport to their favorites/follows, it seemed like there was a lot over the last month. Also, as always, big thanks to the reviewers:
Courtney-Tamara: Thank you, here you go!
TetraGirl: Thanks! I hope this installment sates your curiosity a bit more.
RHatch89 : Thank you!
Livhardy: Thank so much! Hope you like this one.
VampiresAndLiars: Thanks! I hope you love this flashback, too.
julieakaweirdo: Thank you! I hope this chapter was also worth the wait.
Steph01924: I hope you're glad about this one, too! That is coming up, possibly 2 to 3 more chapters from now.
Kelly1432: Lol, thank you! I'm sorry about Tyler, but please rant all you like. I'm always up to trash the writers over their poor choices, especially over decent characters. I'm glad Skye and Kai are the good kind of "cray." I hope you liked Damon's and Skye's reunion.
Khari: Thank you so much! Your reviews always come when I need them honestly. I'm so glad that you getit, everything I try really hard to impart with each chapter. I hope this chapter is up to par for you, I feel like I rushed it. If I did, I'm sorry!
sarahmichellegellarfan1: Thanks! To put simply, at risk of oversimplifying actually, She doesn't have to be his girlfriend to kiss him.
Female whovian: Lol, thank you! I hope you liked this chapter and that Jo's reaction makes sense, in the context.
NiNa5: Thanks, hope you like this one!
Guest 1: 3? Is that a rating? I don't know what that means, but thanks?...
PrincessMagic: Thank you!
Smiling Loki: Thanks so much! I do know, it's pretty painful. Lol, you're welcome.
Guest 2: Here it is! He had some jealous moment this chapter, right? Hope you liked. There will definitely be more to come.
XxMikealsonForeverxX: Thank you! I will try. Hope you like it.
Lizzy B: Thanks! But I have to ask, before this chapter obviously and the last flashback, did I ever give the impression Skye tried to kill Kai, lol? I know she said she wanted him dead, but that's different from trying to kill him herself.
YoCupcake: Thank you very much! I feel ya about the drama, I'm getting tired of it too. But thanks for recommending the story! I truly appreciate it! Thanks for the questions about Skye's mental health - I actually write her with two specific mental illnesses in mind though I don't know if I will reveal or directly address what both are. I'm glad you mentioned the suicide thing because it was something I'd already written into in this chapter at the time - when she threatens it and him by extension. It's something she will struggle with. And about Kai realizing how he affects her - I already have a moment written where he does exactly that but it won't come for awhile, until after the merge. : / Sorry! It's interesting that my version of Kai seems more unpredictable because others are also make similar comments, but I don't see it, lol. Anyway, hope you liked this chapter! I look forward to your updates, no matter how long it takes! I understand the struggle, lol, and you're welcome.
autumnleaves97: Thank you, lol. Um, Kai's not in love with Skye because he's incapable. Now, his feelings aren't fascination and slight attraction- that was in the very beginning. Now, it's full-blown attachment, but not like how a person would be attached to another person, but how a person would be attached to an object. They'd be possessive, probably obsessed, but also exploitive. Which is not healthy by any means when's it's actually another person involved, and not an object. After the Merge, Kai will work his way up to being capable of pure, romantic love, which is vastly different to what he is capable of now. I hope that makes sense.
Katlin: Thank you, lol! I really appreciate your comments, but you already know that. ; )
Beautifulwhisper: Thank you! I hope you got my last P.M. and I hope you enjoy this update when you find the time to read it!
Guest 3: I'm so sorry, but that's extremely flattering! Now, you will be pleasantly surprised to see an update, right?
Guest 4: I am too. Actually, your comment made me rethink how I'm going to address it - it evolved the story a bit so thank you!
Sweet Summer Sunset: Thanks for the understanding! Good luck with school, it's a struggle definitely to find the time to balance it all. Of course, you're welcome, I love answering questions. She has been isolated, but that will change the next few chapters. Hope you like this one!
Dunder Mifflin: Kai in general does what, exactly? The not knowing has been killing me. Also, is American Horror Story vibes a good thing? Honestly, I was probably unconsciously influenced by it because I do watch it. Please let me know!