Hellboy and Liz stood waiting for them at the shore, both seeming relieved by their return. Kate sat nearby with Ahkia beside her, standing shakily when she spotted them.
"Blue! Thank god you're okay. How's Locke?" Hellboy asked as they got within earshot.
"He's not breathing and he's lost a lot of blood!" Abe replied, shocked when Hellboy removed his coat and belt, leaving them on the shore as he waded into the lake, helping Abe pull Locke to shore. Kate quickly ran over when Abe and Hellboy gently lay Locke on the sandy beach, his wings trailing awkwardly behind him, Abe half collapsing next to him. Kate carefully rolled Locke onto his back, checking him over and searching her pockets for his inhaler, which she had grabbed from him for safekeeping before they had met up with the others earlier that evening. She shook it once, and was stopped from administering it by Abe.
"He may have swallowed water. That will do him no good." Abe sighed, proceeding to administer CPR. Everyone stood by, shocked that Locke, despite all that had happened in recent months, may have been drowned. Abe stiffened at one moment, gills flattening as his eyes opened suddenly, stiffening and holding still a moment before he withdrew, Locke gasping in air and rolling over to cough painfully. He spit out several mouthfuls of water that must have been in his lungs, before he relaxed a bit, still breathing heavily and coughing. Though he was the one who had nearly drowned, everyone released a heavy sigh of relief to see him possible of recovery.
As Locke slowly recovered, shivering from the cold water and still reeling from lack of oxygen, Abe explained what he had seen and how he, and what must have been Locke -though he did not explain what he had seen to the others as he intended to speak to Locke in private in regards to that later-, slew the Kelpie Matriarch. Hellboy and Liz nodded, adding that the other Kelpies that they had killed or disabled seemed to turn to dust and sand shortly before the two surfaced. Ahkia had meanwhile whuffed in Locke's face, lightly swatting him with one paw for being foolish before nuzzling him and disappearing.
"I was wondering why there weren't any bodies..." Abe muttered, looking to Locke. Though still a bit shell shocked and bleeding from one shoulder and wing, he returned the glance, his good wing quivering as his eyes almost pleaded to go home.
"We need to get him out of here." Kate said after a moment, removing her coat to wrap it around Locke as Abe gingerly helped him sit up. The others only nodded, moving to gather their equipment and Abe's dry land gear, which had been haphazardly discarded as he dashed after Locke and the Kelpie earlier, as Abe and Kate helped Locke rise, both supporting him as they headed back to their rendezvous with a retrieval unit on the highway.
The trip back to the bureau was fairly uneventful, Locke switched to a new set of clothes after drying off, settling on a small cot set up in the common area of their transport plane for a long while as Kate groomed his feathers with a small comb he kept hidden in his coat, he having brushed out his hair and cleaned it, though how Abe didn't quite understand. Neither said a word, and Abe, though concerned, knew better than to try and push them to speak. He saw that many of Locke's feathers fell out as his wings were groomed, and there were still raw patches of flesh around the base of his wings. Not to mention the heavy bandages covering one shoulder and the blood seeping into his feathers in a few patches on his right wing. Kate slowly appeared to be tiring, and Locke looked over one shoulder at her, concern on his face. She shook her head at an unspoken question, Locke sighing, shaking his head in defeat before propping his chin on a hand, elbow on his knee, half-asleep as she continued.
"Here, go get some rest." Abe said, standing up from his plane seat and moving to rest one hand on Kate's shoulder, the other held out for the brush she was using on Locke's wings. Both looked at him curiously, Kate raising a brow and looking to Locke, who nodded, giving her a weak smile and stifled a yawn as he stretched lightly. She handed Abe the brush, moving to go back into the resting area. Abe sat carefully behind Locke, who hung his head, nervously running his fingers through his hair, which was badly in need of another thorough brushing. Abe gingerly began to brush Locke's feathers, blinking and smiling lightly when Locke began to purr quietly, visibly relaxing as Abe continued.
They did not speak, no need to verbally voice their concerns, Locke shrinking slightly when Abe mentally asked why Locke had bit his lip when he was administering CPR, or why Locke didn't heal as instantly as he should have been able to. Locke blushed, wincing when he tensed and aggravated the injuries on his right wing, moving to gently cradle it, moving the bandages and gingerly grooming the injuries like a wounded cat, which slowly began to heal them visibly. Not as sudden or instantaneous as would be expected, likely a side-effect of the Kelpie venom. Abe hesitated a moment before he moved forward, holding out one hand, palm up, offering his wrist to Locke.
"Abe... I... I can't accept that. No." Locke breathed, turning away, seeming to hide behind his wing.
"Locke, it's alright. I was unprepared before... Please." Abe pressed, seeing how pale Locke's skin and hair had gotten over the past few hours, and wanted to avoid him possibly becoming vulnerable to the sun or somesuch. Locke looked deeply into Abe's eyes, sighed, and gently took his wrist, kissing the flesh gently before baring his fangs and gingerly biting down.
Abe stiffened, letting out a slow shuddering breath as waves of euphoria washed over him. It was at once so much like and yet so different from his previous experience with the Chordewa. He gasped, shuddering and took a long moment to recover as Locke withdrew his fangs from his wrist and lovingly sealed the wound by licking it over once. Locke also seemed to be quite satisfied, looking Abe in the eyes and smiling quite serenely as he held him steady for a moment. Subconsciously Abe noted that Leon's colouration improved only slightly, and his nails seemed to shrink down and pale.
*Thank you Abe. I feel much better now.* Locke said, through what Abe understood now as 'thought-speech' which Locke was able to use quite easily, and would happily teach Abe in the near future.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Hellboy said, clearing his throat. Locke and Abe both seemed flustered, withdrawing from each other and blushing profusely. "That's what I thought." He added, chuckling.
"What is it Red?" Abe asked, sighing.
"We'll be landing soon. Take your seats. Apparently something big has been going down in Brazil and there's a big demand for planes in the southern states right now." Hellboy stated, shrugging at a questioning and worried glance from Locke. Both followed, happily taking their seats as the plane descended.