Author's Note: It seems Maggie is out cold again, so it's time for Abe to take over once more.
The Wyrm gently drops me at Hellboy's feet and then dives back into the ground. I'm a little bruised and covered in Wyrm spit, but other than that, I'm ok. I stand up and turn back toward the tangle. I sense Maggie pulling a vast amount of energy toward her. If she's not careful, she'll completely burn herself out. She may even kill herself. I start running toward the tangle even though I know that there's no way I'll get there in time. Hellboy is right behind me.
"What's going on?" Hellboy asks as he pulls up next to me.
"Maggie is going to kill the baby Wyrm," I answer.
"Why?"
"She made a stupid promise to the parents to ease the baby's suffering," I reply. "He can't be saved so she's going to kill him instead."
"And the parents are ok with this?"
"I don't know."
About half way back to the tangle it hits. All of the Wyrms go off at the same time. They make a keening noise that can't be heard with the ears. And though I can't normal hear them, I hear this. I drop to my knees with my fists pressed into my temples. The earthquake of sixty plus Earth Wyrms diving into the ground at once knocks me the rest of the way down.
When my head stops ringing and I can focus my eyes again, I look up to see Hellboy walking toward me. He's carrying Maggie's limp form in his arms. I look behind him and notice that the tangle is gone. It's like nothing was ever there. Even the vultures have moved on.
"She's alive," he tells me as he walks up.
I finally manage to stand up and I reach for her. Then I realize that I'm reaching for her with my right fist. I pull it back and open it. Her engagement ring lies in the palm of my hand, sparkling in the winter sun.
I close my hand back over it and I turn back toward the way we came. Before I can take a step, the trucks pull up to us and stop. Several agents jump out of the trucks, and take Maggie from Hellboy. I walk toward the flat bed truck and climb up into my crate. I sit with my knees to my chest on the bottom of the crate, not even bothering with the little seat that's built into it.
The electrical jolt they gave me to revive me didn't hurt this much. All the tests they preformed on me didn't hurt this much. Even my chest being torn open by a hell hound didn't hurt this much. Nothing can come close to the pain I'm feeling of Maggie breaking up with me.
I'm mad at her for making that stupid promise. I'm mad at myself for trying to order her around. But I'm mostly mad that she gave me back the ring. God, I wish I had tear ducts.
Eventually, the agents come and close my crate. I rest my head on my knees. I now have an inkling of what Hellboy must have gone through every time Liz left the bureau.
Soon the trucks are moving, and I start getting motion sickness. I forgot to take my Dramamine. I suppose it wouldn't be so bad if I could see the outside, but the holes in this thing are drilled in such a way as to keep curious eyes from seeing what's inside. It also keeps what's inside from seeing out. So I sit here and try not to lose my lunch.
Some indeterminate time later, the trucks stop. I can feel the agents move my crate into the plane. Then I hear the ramp close and then my crate is opened. Hellboy emerges from his stretching and grumbling about having kinks in his tail.
I sit on the bench across from the crates and wait for take off. Finally, we're in the air and at cruising altitude. I head for my tank. It's smaller than the medical tank back at headquarters, but it keeps me wet. I manage to strip and get in without ever opening my right hand all the way. I can't let go of the ring. I feel it digging into my flesh, but that makes me want to hold it all that much tighter.
I curl up in a fetal position and try to get some sleep. I'm roused by someone banging on the glass of the tank. It's Hellboy. It figures. Everyone else knows not to hit the glass. Now my head is throbbing again. I turn around and look at him.
"Ok, talk," he orders.
"About what?" I ask grumpily.
"Come on, Blue, I saw the ring," he answers.
"I don't want to talk about it," I reply as I turn back around.
"Do you have any idea how many times Liz returned her ring to me before we finally got married?" he demands.
"And did I make you talk about it any of those times?" I retort looking back over my shoulder.
"Um, no," he answers.
"Exactly," I say as I untwist my neck.
He sits there for a couple of minutes and then finally walks away. Within a short time, I'm asleep. I'm awakened by someone calling my name.
"Abe? Abe?"
"Yes, John, what is it?" I ask without turning around.
"We're going to be landing soon," he tells me.
"Thank you," I reply.
I hear him move off as I uncurl myself and stretch. I leave my tank and get dressed with the ring still firmly clasped in my hand. I go and wait for landing in the cargo area with others. Liz approaches me.
"Abe, what happened?" she asks.
"I'd rather not talk about it," I tell her and walk away.
I sit at the end of the bench with my back to everyone. I hear Manning come in. I can hear his thoughts. He's worried that I'll go into a depression like before where I wasn't eating or talking to any one. But I'm not depressed, I'm angry.
"Don't worry, Manning," I say without turning around. "I'll do my job."
"Good," he replies as he takes his seat.
A short time later, we're on the ground. The back of the plane opens and several agents get out, securing the area. They're taking longer than usual. While Red and I wait for the all clear, Myers and another agent jostle past us carrying a stretcher with Maggie on it. She's still unconscious and her face is very pale. For a moment, I want to reach out and touch her. But my anger won't let me. I watch as they go down and take her out of sight. I wonder where they're taking her, so I touch Myers' mind. There's an ambulance waiting near by to take her to the hospital. She's not coming back with us. That's why it's taking so long.
Sometime later, we're finally given the all clear to leave. Red and I get into the back of the garbage truck, and head back home. Thankfully, Red has the sense to not to try and talk to me. Instead he sits there smoking a cigar, staring at me. I briefly wish Maggie was there to put the thing out, but I quickly banish that thought.
Within an hour, we're back at headquarters. I head for the library and pick four books at random from the shelves and place them on the stands in front of my tank. Then I head upstairs, strip and get into the water.
I start trying to read, but I can't seem to concentrate. I realize that I've read the same line about five times before I give up. I decide to use some of my pent up energy and I start to swim. There's really no where to go, so I swim in circles. As a challenge to myself, I try and see if I can get a whirlpool going. I swim in a circle as fast as I can. When I tire, I stop and let the current I've created carry me along for a while. Finally, I sink to the bottom of my tank and sink into the comfortable oblivion of sleep.
I'm woken up by Guillermo coming into the library and starting to talk to me. He must have just gotten back from his trip.
"Let's see what you're reading, shall we?" he says to my blank window. I'm still hanging around the bottom of the tank. "Douglas Adams' 'The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul.' Not a bad choice. 'Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.' A bit of a dull read, but it'll definitely improve your vocabulary. Steven King's 'Desperation.' I see you decided to make this one a bit of a challenge. Not everyone can read an entire book from back to front and upside down to boot. And finally, Leo Tolstoy's 'War and Peace.' In Chinese."
I stretch and contemplate what to do next. I could just sit here on the bottom of my tank and wait him out. But I know him too well at this point. He's more stubborn than a mule. He can out wait me, damn him. So I swim up to the window slowly.
He's now sitting on his favorite chair facing my window. He has his bum leg resting on an ottoman and his cane is resting against the chair next to him. He's just sitting there watching me.
"I just came from the hospital, in case you're wondering," he says.
"I'm not," I tell him.
"Liar," he responds. "I don't have to be a Water Mage to know you're lying. That girl has been the best thing that's ever come into your life, so don't swim there and tell me her condition doesn't matter to you."
"It might have once," I reply in anger. "But this changed everything."
I open my right hand and push the ring against the glass. The diamond scratches it slightly.
"Ah, the ring," he says knowingly. "You want to tell me about it now, or am I going to have to drag it out of you piece by piece? Because, you know, sooner or later, I will know the whole story."
I know he's right. I swim to the top of my tank and get out. I head downstairs without even bothering to dry off. I step into the library. Guillermo hasn't moved, so I walk up to him and place my hand on his and show him everything that happened.
Maggie telling Manning she's going. Her explaining what Wyrms are. Seeing her in the middle of the desert with one of them, seeing it knock her down and hovering over her like it's about to strike. Running out to her, scared beyond words that she might have been hurt. Her ordering Manning and the other agents to leave, and her telling Hellboy to give up the Samaritan. The four of us healing Wyrms that had bullet wounds. Her walking toward the tangle alone. Me following. Finally getting to the parent Wyrms. Her making the promise and my diagnosis. Our fight. Her asking the Wyrm to take me back. My attempt to get back to her on time. The keening, the earthquake and the disappearance of the Wyrms.
I remove my hand from his, turn and head back upstairs. Shortly after I've returned to my tank, he starts to talk to me again.
"You know, for such a smart guy, you're being a real idiot," he says. "Do you know what happens to a Mage if they don't fulfill a promise?"
"No," I answer.
"They spend the rest of their lives trying to complete it," he tells me. "Even if it's impossible to do so. Do you know what happens to a Mage who breaks a promise?"
"No," I barely whisper.
"They lose their powers," he says.
"Better that than being dead," I respond angrily.
"You think so?" he asks just as angrily. He grabs his cane, stands and comes over to the glass. He places his hand on the glass. I place my hand next to his with only the glass between us. The images I see all but knock me across my tank.
A man in a vegetative state, the doctors baffled about the cause. There was no physical trauma of any kind to him. He was just found like that. He never recovered, and died a short time later.
"Tell me, Abe," he says as he drops his hand. "Is that what you would wish for Maggie?"
"No," I manage to choke out. Fear is replacing the anger. "Who was he?"
"My brother," he quietly answers.
"I'm sorry," is all I can manage to say. After several moments, I finally ask, "How is she?"
"She's exhausted, dehydrated and malnourished," he answers as he returns to his seat. "A few days rest with lots of fluids should set her right. Physically at least. But after your little stunt of you essentially telling her you own her, her emotionally state will be something else."
Relief washes over me, and is quickly replaced by depression.
"How do I make it up to her?" I ask him.
"Groveling is a good start," he answers. "A little romance thrown in for good measure wouldn't hurt either. You're going to have to convince her that you truly are sorry for what you did and that you'll never do it again. Not an easy thing to manage with any woman. It's even harder to do with a Mage. Normally, she'd be able to tell if you were lying, but since you're water based, she won't be able to tell. Unfortunately, that's going to work against you. What will work in your favor is that you two love each other. Once a Mage falls in love, they can never give their heart to another."
"How do I romance her?" I ask. "I can't exactly take her to dinner and a show."
"Use your imagination," he tells me with a shrug. "But chances are, she not going to want to come here willingly. She's probably still pretty hurt over your argument. You're going to have to figure out a way to get her here."
"Great," I grumble. "Not only am I going to have to beg for forgiveness, I'm going to have to trick her here to do it. I'm sure that will go over big."
"Don't forget about romancing her and asking for her hand in marriage again," he says.
"Ask her to marry me again?" I ask with indignation. "But I've already done that."
"Yes, you did," he replies. "But you blew it and she called it off. If you try just handing her the ring, you might find it stuffed someplace most unpleasant."
"Lovely," I say. "So, I've got to get her here, do something romantic, beg for forgiveness and ask her to marry me again."
"That's pretty much it in a nut shell," Guillermo responds. "I think getting her here will be the hardest. If she's still mad, she's going to try and avoid the bureau, and the library most of all, at all costs."
I take a couple of laps around my tank, thinking. I suddenly remember something.
"We never got to dessert," I quietly muse.
"Excuse me?" asks Guillermo, confused.
"What if we didn't have it in the library?" I ask. "In fact, what if we didn't have it at the bureau at all?"
"What did you have in mind?" he asks.
I outline my plan. A smile starts spreading across his face. It gets larger as I go on. By the time I'm done, he has a huge grin on his face.
"That just might work," he says. "But you'll have to get it past Manning."
"I'll take care of Manning," I tell him. "Do you think you can handle the rest of the details?"
"If I get some help from Liz and John, I'm sure I can do it," he replies. He stands to go.
"Thank you, Guillermo," I say.
"For what?"
"For giving me a swift kick in the tail."
"Hey, what are friends for?"