Author's Note

Thank you to everyone for your awesome encouragement! It's really the fuel I need to keep writing. And I want to say a special thanks to elleon for reading my other original story. I think that was the ultimate proof that you not only like the blade fics, but you were interested in my other writing also. Now remember to keep your hands inside the compartment at all times…and no feeding King please…

He may try to hump your leg.

McFadden-

Chapter 3: Fanning the Flames

Amazingly, the meditation had made King dizzy with relaxation. He felt ready to take on anything Abigail had to in store for him. She suggested staying in an isolated area and working out the kinks that were 5 years in the making. He bent in ways that he had only seen in Karma Sutra books. However sexy the idea may have sounded to him at the time, he was definitely not thinking that by the end of the session. She pulled and stretched and angled him like he was a limber 12 year old gymnast boy. And now he was in a world of hurt. After an eternity, she finally informed him that he was free to leave. In King's shining moment of idiocy, he stumbled and tripped knocking over the lighted votives, successfully causing a small fire. He watched, horrified, as Abby calmly walked over to the pile of burning metal and stamped out what used to be her I-pod and her tank top as if she did it everyday. He wanted to just drop to his knees and ask God to take him now. Just make it quick and painless. He saw Abby slowly processing the damage in her mind and he felt like crying. Jesus Christ, there went her killing aid. All of her songs…gone. Her brows furrowed with the pressure of an oncoming migraine. She attempted to stop it by prodding at her forehead with her fingers.

"Shit! I'm so fucking sorry! Damnit…"

Abby reached her limit of patience. She sat there hoping he would form some laryngeal disease that would prevent him from talking but had no such luck. The Zen factor had run out and she had had enough. She walked over to where he stood and reached out a hand. King flinched, thinking she was going to strike him but instead she took her hands and brought it to his mouth, pressing his lips together with her forefinger and her thumb.

"There. Mouth closed…That's a very good look for you King."

She packed up the equipment and slung it over her shoulder, walking away without another word.

"Abby, I really…"

Her hand shot up in the air to silence him once and for all. All he could do was watch her retreating form. Sighing, he and hung his head, looking at the glowing cinders turn to ash. He realized that he was looking at the same thing Abby saw, night after night.

"Fuck me…"

When he walked in after taking a breather on the roof, all he could hear was cursing.

"God damnit..."

That was followed by punching and kicking and finally, pacing. He was almost certain that she had knocked holes into the wall. With every expletive, he winced knowing it was in-avertedly directed towards him. He retreated, unnoticed into his room and collapsed, beaten. Thankfully, he fell into a dreamless sleep. Later that evening King lay in bed, mentally exhausted and painfully sore in muscles he never even knew he had. Abby tore him up. That woman had no mercy. He couldn't believe that he actually destroyed her precious I-pod. He was lucky he still had all of his limbs attached. Or better yet, that she didn't break all of them, rendering him useless and a quadriplegic. King heard the distinct tapping of Sommerfield coming down the hall outside his door.

"How was playtime in the pen, Tiger?"

King groaned in reply as Sommer sat on the foot of the bed. His joints cracked loudly when he turned over to face her. She grimaced.

"That doesn't sound good…"

He pulled the pillow over his face a simulated suffocating himself with it.

"Sommer, it was so fucking bad! You have no idea."

"What happened?"

One image flashed in his mind, the melting white plastic morphing into charred, black remains. He wasn't so much worried about the top, but the I-pod, that might as well have been Abby's heart monitor.

"I broke her life-line…"

Sommer smiled. She loved King's play on words.

"What, you broke her I-pod?"

She laughed at her own joke, not knowing how true she was until her laughter subsided and was followed by a thick silence. She put her hand on his arm, squeezing it.

"Oh God…King, tell me you didn't…"

His reply came in the dull form of a lyric from a beloved Bob Dylan song.

"The answer my friend, is blowin' in the wind…"

He rubbed his hand across his face, pulling slightly at the bristle of his beard. Hoping somehow to wake himself up and erase this nightmare. It didn't work.

"It caught on fire because I knocked over a candle."

Sommerfield's mouth went slack. Ohh he was halfway in the grave now. Her heart went out to him. For some reason, he couldn't seem to catch a break. She remained quiet or a moment assessing the situation then she took an ominous breath.

"Well, Sweetheart, it was nice knowing you. I had fun while it lasted."

Her reaction didn't comfort King in the least. How the hell was he going to dig himself out of this one? She got up and walked out of the room whispering loud enough for him to hear her.

"So young…so young."

Over the next hour as it got darker and darker, King asked God, repeatedly, why he chose him in particular to have a sense of humor on today. Out of nowhere, his stomach growled loudly reminding him that he skipped lunch earlier. Hearing no noises, King figured the coast was clear for him to safely leave his room without having to dodge flying objects aimed at his head. Looking both ways up and down the hall, King cautiously went in search for food. Walking into the kitchen, King choked in protest of the foggy air lingering in the room. It was the second time today the same acrid smell burned his nose. Most of the carcinogenic cloud hovered above the man producing it. Caulder was smoking again. Abby walked into the opposite entrance and saw what Caulder was doing. She clicked her tongue in disapproval and removed the cancer stick from his hands. He simply let her take it and snuff it out in a nearby ashtray without saying a word. She hadn't noticed King watching from the other doorway. He saw her give Caulder a look. King knew that look. She was berating him silently but there was something else attached to the gaze. She was being benevolent with him as Caulder just shrugged and nodded hopelessly. Abby patted him on the shoulder and his hand came up to cover hers.

"Don't worry, we'll get you on the patches soon..."

King watched, completely mystified by the comfortable interaction between the two and found himself becoming jealous of the obvious comradery they shared. It was something he wished he had, it was what Sommerfield was talking about. Abby never really went out of her way to be mean to him. Usually if he left her alone, she did the same. King was beginning to believe that if Abby wasn't forced to talk to him during their sessions, she would simply choose just not to talk to him at all. And that's not something King wanted. He noticed that her knuckles were scratched and bleeding, bruises forming around the self-inflicted wounds. She really must've shown that wall who was their daddy. He was just glad it wasn't his face. King slid obstructing his body from view as she crossed over to the sink. The only indication of the pain she was experiencing was shown by a sharp intake of breath as the blood, soap, and water mixed to pink. King felt completely responsible for this and looked on with a helpless gaze as he walked backwards to slide out of the kitchen.

"King I know you're there."

His eyes closed in guilty consciousness. He shuffled up behind her and handed her a paper towel to dry her hands. She accepted it and instead of the usual death stare, her eyes were tired and internally frustrated. He didn't think fighting was left in her at the moment. He fully intended to take advantage of the situation.

"Abby listen…"

He resisted a moment to see if she would tell him to shut up again. When she didn't make a move, he continued.

"…I'm so sorry. I really didn't mean to ruin your shirt and especially your I-pod."

She stood there indifferently as she placed gauze and medical tape around her hand. King absentmindedly assisted her by wrapping it and securing the bandage cloth. He was surprised to see that she just let him do it and didn't pull away. Before he could have the time to mess up a good thing he let go of her hand and turned to head out the door.

"King…"

He turned, hearing her call his name. She grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl on the counter and tossed it to him. He was surprised by the gesture. It amazed him how Abby picked up on the reason he had come to the kitchen in the first place. Then as an added bonus, she did something he wasn't expecting. She thanked him.

"Thanks."

Although King knew that a thank you didn't mean that Abby wasn't still livid about her I-pod, He walked away smiling deliriously, nonetheless. He was going to bath in this glory for the time being, because somehow he knew that once morning came around, all bets were off.