Author's Note

Delayed update, I know, but it's an update nonetheless. I'm sorry y'all. Thanks to anyone who has been a dedicated reader of my stories. Thank you also for all the reviews! I hope everyone is well and had a lovely Valentine's Day. If for some reason you didn't, consider King as your Valentine! There should be no reason for you not to smile now…

Chapter 5: Preparations with a Distraction

Abby traced her name on the frosted condensation from her drink then flicked the excess water from her finger. King had his book open to a page, but he wasn't really reading the words inside. She had grabbed his attention just by sitting down. He was using the book as a decoy to observe her as she pondered over something unbeknownst to him. Her expression went from completive to worse as the seconds passed by. This worried King. She looked like she was having a conflict with herself with the way her brows were deeply creased in concentration and to him; it didn't seem to be going very well. Abby clawed at her face in inner frustration. Finally with a resounding agitated pull of her hair, she spoke.

"I commend you for your efforts as far as apologizing goes. If you weren't so much of a smartass, I may have taken that note seriously…"

A look of hurt, although well masked, flashed by on his face. That's not something he was hoping to hear. He knew she'd be tough to get through to, but she just won't break! Lowering his eyes, he hid behind the cover of his book once more and dejectedly picked fuzz balls off of the placemat. King was synonymous for being one who constantly used rejection as a form of self punishment. He attempted to win her approval with that letter. Abby studied his dark long lashes as they fluttered open and closed on his cheeks where a small scar lay on the left side. The line was short and narrow, but it was deep. She wondered if it was a wound inflicted in the past by Danica or the likes of her. In this short assessment, Abby caught herself studying more of his features. He was a handsome man, she'd give him that much. His eyes were a warm chocolate brown that usually sparkled with unheard laughter that sent her blood boiling when its gaze was directed at her. Even his immaculately kept facial hair that navigated the lines of his jaw was a nice accent. Seeing his reaction as one of being letdown she gave into it and let him know her true appreciation. He'd been through enough in the last couple of years. She had to be logical about this. If she was going to have to live with this man and have him as her partner, she'd have to bend somewhere, not put him into depression resulting in the need of a psychological evaluation. Not believing that he had pulled her to the point of forgiveness so quickly, she sighed in resignation.

"Thank you King. No one's ever done anything like that for me…It was very sweet. I just wasn't expecting it. Especially from you…"

He noticed that it was almost physically painful for her to give him a comment and admitting that he had done something right. King decided that he would have to prove her wrong more often. Abby had gotten up from the table and retreated back into her room. King heard her door close softly and he was left there finishing up his chapter with a small grin on his face. Closing his book, he saw his workout schedule that Abby inconspicuously left in front of him. Shit! He had a workout in an hour…King got up and opened the refrigerator door when he heard Sommer's voice getting closer and closer followed by an unmistakably pouty Zoë.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, but I told you a hundred times that you cannot play with Abby's bow. It can seriously hurt you."

Her voice was quiet but stern at the same time. She very seldom had to reprimand the child because Zoë was a really smart and well behaved girl who handled her mom's disability and her own current lifestyle quite well considering her age. Although, she did possess the same flare as her mother which on few occasions had resulted in an outburst or temper tantrum. Sommer approached the door where King was checking out his options for food as she rubbed his shoulder.

"What's up Doc?"

For an answer, Sommer patted her daughter on the cheek. Zoë looked at King but said nothing. Her lips were tightly pursed together in a frown. She was too sour to speak except to try and negotiate with her mother.

"But mom, I've been practicing with bull's-eye darts and I'm a really good shot. Abby said so herself."

Sommerfield breathed out slowly with all the patience left in her. King thought she was a good mother. He didn't know much about Zoë's father aside from the fact he abandoned them without a trace, leaving Sommer to raise their child on her own.

"I'm sure she did and I'm certain you are but Zoë, listen to me. Ms. Abigail's bow is not a toy, understand?"

Zoë crossed her arms and sighed in defeat.

"Yes ma'am."

"Good, now why don't you sit at the table and I'll fix you a big bowl of ice cream."

She shooed her away with her hands and retrieved a bowl from the pantry. King took a seat on the island counter and watched as Zoë drug her feet over to the table and sat down with a big humph. Sommer opened the freezer, grabbing the mint chocolate chip ice cream out of the plastic bag she had put it in to decipher it from the other frozen foods. She dished out two big scoops, placed the bowl in front of Zoë, and handed her a clean spoon. The she left to return to her lab. Zoë sat there sullenly looking at the inverted reflection of the kitchen from her spoon having refused to touch her bowl of ice-cream. She watched as an upside down King hopped of the counter and approached her till the image blurred out. He looked at Zoë for a moment and then bent down to whisper in her ear cryptically.

"There is no spoon…"

He suppressed a chuckle at his own reference even though he knew she had no clue what he was talking about. Okay so maybe he had watched the Matrix trilogy one too many times. Her hand came up to push his head away but instead she caught him on the jaw. She looked up, having not meant to hit him, just push. King grabbed his beard, rubbing it from side to side, laughing.

"Oww Scooter…Is there any blood pouring from anywhere? Maybe you don't have to worry about shooting the bow. With an arm like that, we can put you in some silver plated boxing gloves and turn you loose. You'll just knockout the bad guys and Abby and I will be out of a job. Now eat up before I decide to get your ice cream."

She looked at him with gleaming eyes and started to giggle at his facial expression. He was acting like he was in the worst pain he had ever experienced and dabbing non existent blood off the corner of his mouth. Zoë shook her head at his silliness. Digging in, she ate until she gave herself an ice cream headache.

From her room, Abby could hear King's deep, rich laughter followed by that of Zoë. Amazingly, King turned out to be a great playmate for Zoë once she wasn't so afraid of him. The recovery and curing process had not been an easy thing for anyone in the Hive to go through. They had tried to keep Zoë less informed as possible, all she knew that they were keeping a very sick man who had been a prisoner of the bad people. As soon as he got better, he turned into an overgrown child for her. Abby would go so far as to use the term 'role model' but Zoë looked up to him a certain extent so she had to give credit where credit was due. Apart from being a real pain in the ass to Abby, he was good to Zoë and King definitely deserved to be commended for helping her remember to be a child and have fun. Right now, Abby had to get reading for another glorious training session with him. She was sure it would be oh so much fun.

Putting on her black cross trainers and mesh workout gloves, she headed to the weight room to set everything up. Abby wanted a little time to reorganize her thoughts. She really wasn't in her element today. This morning had really thrown her off balance with herself and she needed to recompose. She did a few light stretches and training with her free weights. This session wasn't really going to be a workout for her since she already did hers this morning before meditation. King just needed to be guided through a strenuous routine to make sure his body was reactive and prepared enough. Night had started to set in which meant that Abby would be wide awake again and fully energized enough to handle King and his anticipated antics. Right on time, she heard the door swing open and King step through. Unperturbed, Abby pointed to the pull-up machine mounted on the wall.

"Do two sets of 15 overhand and underhand, then we'll go from there."

King thought better than to argue with her when she became stoic. So he followed her instructions while Abby came over to supervise him. She critically examined his form as he pulled up against the resistance of the metal. His back was expansive and filled out, a far cry from his malnourished state only months ago. The sinuous muscle moved hypnotically beneath the layer of skin. Dex had redefined his muscles as soon as King was able to be up and about on his own. That grueling process is what reshaped King into the sculpted man who was now in front of her. She watched as his biceps and triceps flex and relax then flex again. King completed both sets as if there was nothing to it. His body had a lot of uncharted territory to it that needed attention. He was impressive with the amount of effort he put into getting in shape. And now, it was definitely beginning to show, and beginning to distract one certain self-restrained individual. Continuing on schedule, Abby successfully worked King without a flaw. Finishing up lifting weights, Abby momentarily shocked him by grabbing his hand and pulling him to the floor.

"Lay down."

She saw the smirk forming before it was fully set on his face. The sweat coated him in a light sheen as he laid back. Situating herself at his feet, she grabbed his ankles and anchored them to the floor. He knew then what she had in mind. His abs pulled and contracted as he reached up to his knees and then went back down. Abby counted him off in intervals for every ten sit-ups he did. After doing all of his 500 sit-ups, he rolled off the floor and took his workout gloves off. Out of nowhere, Abby knocked King down and straddled him. He was disoriented but King recovered quickly. He grabbed her hips forcing them down, bringing friction to their bodies, and smiled provocatively.

"But Honey, it's not even Friday night…"

Her knees dug painfully into his aching sides for that comment. Her hands encircled his neck and squeezed just enough to cause discomfort. They tussled a bit as Abby tried to free herself. She pressed his knuckles into his palm and he let go of her. She relaxed, moving her hair off of her face and King caught the sight of her as she unconsciously licked her lips. He didn't want her to move but she got up and stepped over him using his abs as a footstool to get past, causing him to groan and rub his stomach.

"Always be on your guard… Never let up or one of us will get hurt out there."

She offered him a hand up, and he took it looking at her like she was insane for what she just did, but he understood why she did it. He would've done the same thing, although he probably enjoyed her on top of him way more than he should have. She was a hot blooded woman, and he couldn't help the fact that he was an equally hot blooded and stubborn man. Combined with the fact that he was deprived pleasure from any woman, King lusted after Abby. In the past, Danica would pleasure herself using his body. He didn't get anything from it with the exception of excruciating pain in the process. She just used him as a blood-letting slave and he was sure that had he not been so acerbic she would've killed him long ago. He was so stupid to even follow Danica after he discovered her freaky little fetish and her weird clientele. King just thought she was a Goth who wanted to drink blood and act like a vampire. He had met gothic people like that before. How was he able to misconstrue the situation so badly? Consumed with his thoughts, they walked into the computer hub to see Hedges fiddling around with another one of his precious prototypes. He looked up and waved at them. The ocular he had on his right eye magnified it three times its size. Dex came up and caught Abby mid-stride handing her a rolled schematic.

"I've drawn up an outline for tonight's plan. I want you to study it and strategize. We're heading out in 45 minutes. King, come with me and I'll set you up."

King followed Dex into one of the armor rooms panning off to the right side of the main room. Abby did a run through in her mind of the warehouse's internal structure. She pinpointed the best places to wait and scope out the Talos clan while she and King were to prepare to strike. She was calculating their every origin to advance until she was comfortable with her decision. Apart from having to watch how he handled himself, Abby no longer felt afraid of him protecting himself, or her for that matter. She had trained him to the best of her ability and he had a style that was all his own. It was important that she didn't think she had to baby-sit him through this. Granted the task was relatively simple and nothing she couldn't handle on her own, but this way she could observe how he worked under pressure. He returned and was raring to go, no holds barred with weapons galore attached to various limbs. King strutted in proudly displaying his new gear by doing a full turn to find his only audience member not even paying attention to him. His chest deflated ever so slightly and he walked over to her.

"Dash got me fully equipped now. What can I do to help?"

He noticed that she had already suited up and had her equipment scattered around her. She checked her arrow rests on her bow, slung the quick detach mount on her back, and stuffed the rest of her quivers inside of her tactical bag. For a second, King wasn't sure if she had heard him or not. Then she looked up at him with an expression King wasn't familiar with. It was as if she was tuned out to everything except for the hunt.

"Stay out of my way…"

Damn she knew how to make him feel incompetent but he refused to back down. She needed him now even if she was unwilling to admit it. He ceased her movements by taking her duffel bag and compound bow from her. She gave him a look like she wanted to remove his visceral organs and choke him out with his intestines. King softened his voice down a notch but his tone was serious.

"Not anymore Whistler. We're a packaged deal, you and me. You're going to have to learn to work with me instead of against me."

Abby was genuinely surprised that he put his foot down. He had the nerve to speak to her that way and whether he knew it or not, that's exactly what Abby needed in a worthy partner. She knew he would be fine with whatever they came face to face with tonight. He had that fire burning inside him that could only be known as revenge. She handed him silver stakes that he strapped onto his bulletproof vest and gave him a challenge.

"Get ready to prove yourself then."