Flesh Wounds
Part Eleven
Giles glanced up worriedly. "How is she?"
"Sleeping it off at Gabriel's apartment," Xander replied, taking off his coat. "God, the things that girl does…"
"I should say so. What happened?"
"I don't know. All Sara would say was, 'She got her answer.' I think she's in a bit of shock. Then we found her dead, those damned Roses drinking her blood."
"Did you destroy them?"
"No, though I wanted to. I was told that we wouldn't have been able to get out alive."
"Who else was with you? And who is this Gabriel?"
"Sara and Gabriel were also there, and Gabriel is the 'young man' I told you about, though he's older than me." Xander sunk into a chair, tiredly rubbing his eyes. "I'm gonna go crash upstairs, G-man. There's a bed up there if you want it."
"I shall probably take that offer up later. Right now, I'm in the middle of more…prophecies."
"Oh, yeah, Sara also said something about 'it was right in front of her'? What do you think?"
"I think we can only answer that when Athena comes in."
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Gabriel, try as he might, could not sleep. His mind kept wandering back to what he had found. Surely that was not always true? Surely it only turned green because she loved him? Still, he knew what was going to happen, and was determined to fight against it. He would not lose her without a fight.
The sleeping girl stirred in his arms, and he unconsciously held her closer, propping his head up on his other hand. In these short few weeks, she had laughed and smiled more than ever before in his entire knowing her. She had let a sort of playful side come out, and was falling in love with him. That in itself made him want to fight for her. The fact that he, Gabriel Bowman, had something that made her love him, was worth everything. Softly sighing, he glanced around his apartment; his gaze landed on a particular item, and a slightly mischievous grin crossed his face. He would probably get the crap beaten out of him, but it would be worth it.
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A few hours later, Athena finally awoke to the smell of homemade tomato soup and looked up into Gabriel's warm eyes before he kissed her softly, then moved so she could sit up. Grimacing at the soreness in her wrists, she quirked a brow when the Witchblade began to fuss at her. "Oh, shut up," she told it.
"Who?" Gabriel asked, raising a brow at her.
She held up her arm. "Stupid piece of jewelry."
"Now, love, don't say that. I don't need to be skewered by an angry bracelet," he admonished. "Hungry?"
"As a matter of fact..."
"Then I will be right back." He hopped off the bed and soon returned with a tray.
"I thought you said you couldn't cook."
"I lied. Mom taught us all how to make tomato soup. Here, open your mouth."
"I'm not a child," she grumbled, but opened her mouth and let him deposit a spoonful of soup.
"But you're so cute," he teased, handing her the spoon. "Do you want some crackers or something?"
"Cheese?"
"Be right back." Dropping a kiss on the top of her head, he went back to the kitchen.
When he came back with a plate of shredded Cheddar, Athena was idly stirring her soup, staring at the ripples. "You okay?" He asked in concern.
"I'm...I'm just glad you were holding me when I woke up."
He simply cupped her face in his hands and kissed her forehead. "I needed to make sure you would be okay. And I wanted to be the first thing you'd see."
She merely smiled, then resumed her thoughtful look.
"Okay, now what?"
"Oh, I was just thinking about what the Roses told me."
"What did they tell you?"
She laughed slightly, drinking the rest of her soup. "They gave me my answer."
"What? What answer?"
"I've got to get to HQ."
"Uh-uh," he held her down. "Xander told me to let you rest. Something about magic-caused deaths being the hardest to come out of?"
"And the fact that I'm older than anything I've ever met, except maybe Dick Clark, has buffered me considerably. I'll be fine," she replied, wriggling out of his grasp.
"What answer?" He called out as she picked up her jacket.
Her reply came in one word. "Akri."
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Giles glanced up as Athena wordlessly dropped into her chair and began to hastily flip through books. "So…" he started. "Dare I ask about last night?"
"I know I saw that story somewhere," she grumbled in answer.
Giles reached over and took her hands in both of his. "Stop it, Athena, and give me a straight answer. What the hell happened last night?"
"The Roses answered my question with one word, because that's all they do. Which means we still have research to do."
"And the word?"
"Akri. It's the name of a Sumerian princess, who went through some stuff a few millennium ago…where the hell are those papers?"
"Athena, what are you talking about?"
"Gabe translated something for me last week, and it had a hint…" Moving a book out of the way with her mind, considering Giles was still holding her hands, she caught sight of what she was looking for. "Bingo. Have you ever heard of Coba?"
"The ruler of the Babylonian Empire…yes."
"His daughter was named Akri, and he was writing about what was happening to her. Unfortunately, the rest was just babble. Gabe's going to bring me the originals."
"All right then. What was happening to Akri?"
"I have no idea. That's what we have to find out."
"Princess, there's a delivery for you," a cop interrupted.
Athena glanced up and took the box. "Delivery?" Lifting the lid, she dug through the tissue paper to find a soft, chocolate-brown teddy bear. "What the hell?"
Xander came in the office and found Athena staring at the toy. "Where did you get that?"
"I don't…hang on, there's a card." Setting the plushie down, she read silently, "For you to hold when I can't hold you. For you to know that I'm with you and loving you, no matter where you are. Gabriel."
Giles read over the girl's shoulder and smiled. "I definitely want to meet this young man now."
"Wait, officer, who delivered this?" The girl asked the cop.
"Some guy with dark hair and too many rings."
In a second, the girl shot outside, straight into a pair of waiting arms.
Giles and Xander, following at a more sedate pace, came out to see Athena and Gabriel locked together in the middle of a New York sidewalk, showing all that passed by exactly how they felt about each other.
Clapping and catcalls broke the two apart, and they rested their foreheads against each other's, smiling. "Thank you," she whispered, and he stole another kiss before they turned to see everyone in the warehouse clustered around the door, clapping and calling. Xander, of course, was wolf-whistling. "Ah, break it up!" Athena called out jokingly.
Giles came down the steps, holding out a hand. "You must be this Gabriel I've heard so much about."
"Yeah, I'm Gabriel Bowman," Bowman replied, shaking Giles' hand, his other arm around Athena's waist. "You must be Rupert Giles, her foster-father. It's nice to meet you, sir."
"Athena, I think we should all have dinner together tonight?"
"Yes, Perapa," she teased. "Gabe, meet us at the Palace at eight?"
"I'll be there. Oh, and I brought those originals."
She quickly glanced through them. "I can't keep these here…do you mind?"
"Never," he grinned. "But I'll keep them."
"Thanks. I'll come by tonight. Yes, Perapa, I'm coming in," she laughed, then pressed her lips to Gabriel's one more time. "I'll see you tonight. And I love the bear."
Laughing, he let her go and went back home.
EAN: Next chapter, the "What are your intentions?" dinner. Should be interesting…
