Author's Note

Ta-da! Here's to another chapter. I have to report that I'm going to have a busy few weeks ahead of me. This weekend I'll be away next taking care of my grandma, but I will be writing while I'm there. I just won't have the internet to post it. Then the week after that I'm going on vacation. I hope you all like the new chapter. Thank you so much for the great reviews, I really appreciate everyone who takes the time to post them. They give me encouragement to write more.

xoxo-

McFadden-

Chapter 5: Mission Improbable

Abigail met up with Dash downstairs, who was standing with Caulder. He turned towards her as she entered and dangled a set of keys in front of her face. She was impressed.

"That was fast. Did you get me my dream car?"

Dash gave a victorious nod.

"One midnight black Escalade with leather interior and a mad sound system."

Abby could hardly contain her giddiness as the keys dropped into her palm.

"I owe you a drink…"

"Damn right you do! Stealing it was the easy part. Do you have any idea how long it took me to peel off that fucking 'soccer mom' decal off of the gas cover?"

Abby laughed

"Thanks Dash."

"So how's the big baby upstairs?"

Abby rolled her eyes.

"A pain in my ass! Everything is patched up as well as can be. The next few days are going to be taxing on my patience though. He's already propositioned me twice, and that was before the painkillers…"

Dash made a pained face and rubbed her back, sympathetically.

"On second thought…maybe I owe you a drink."

Abby just rubbed the oncoming sleep from her eyes with her fists. Caulder came up behind her and gave her a nudge with his hand on the small of her back. Dash began tuning up and stocking the car with the necessary provisions. Abby and Caulder began walking to the computer center where coordinates of a map were blinking on the screen.

"Sander seems to want to raise hell sooner than we expected. Dash and I spotted him at a downtown port. Since sunrise is in about an hour and a half, that's going to give us some time to figure out a plan of action during the daytime tomorrow. You on the other hand, need to rest up. With King in his condition, you and I will be pairing up for tomorrow night."

Right away, Abigail knew King wasn't going to like this idea one bit. She started shaking her head vehemently.

"He'll never agree with that and you know it! What are you going to do with him? It's not like you can lock him in his room and say…Okay King, you're going to stay here and let me have all of your fun."

Without risking another shouting match, Caulder just sighed and tried to point out the logistics of the situation.

"Abby, chill…you know that you and I are better equipped to handle those brothers anyway; we've been researching them for almost a year now. Did you forget our secret? Do you think King would rationally be able to do anything, especially when he's busted up the way he is?"

He wasn't completely wrong and that made Abby's uneasiness heighten. Not only did she regret holding a secret from King, but now she'd be forced to go out without him by her side. Going out alone was one thing, but with Caulder…it just didn't feel right. True, most of the time, her acrid partner threw caution to the wind, but that's what made it more exciting. Subtlety wasn't exactly King's middle name, but there were certain advantages he had over the rest of them. He wanted revenge; he wanted it more than anything. And he already knew the inner workings of the system. Above all else, with him, she felt safe.

"Please don't set aside the fact that he used to be one of them. But, he is injured and does need to rest."

Caulder just remained silent and led Abby to her bedroom door.

"I'll wake you when it's time…and please don't worry. Everything will be fine."

She collapsed on her bed with a new heavy burden weighing down on her shoulders. A terrible sense of foreboding came over her and suddenly she became sad. This was what Sommer must have felt before Drake got to her. Abby always thought of Sommer when she had déja vu or a feeling of six senses. This was going to be hard. What was she going to tell King when he found out? She groaned and turned onto her side. Sleep wasn't going to come easy today. Abby just knew nightmares were on the way in.

She couldn't move. She was on fire; at least that's what it felt like. Any moment she felt like she was going to spontaneously combust. Her lungs were burning from trying to get a decent breath into her body. There were beads of sweat on her forehead that mixed into blood as they slid down the side of her face. Darkness shrouded her and all she could hear were her own screams, but they were only coming from her mind. When she opened her mouth, her inner screams fell silent in the thick, humid air. A voice rang out in the darkness with stinging finality.

"Close your eyes…"

Abby shot straight up, breathing heavily from her nightmare. Frantically, she searched around for whom the voice may have belonged to. Finding no one in her room, she dropped back into the mattress and tried to erase the nightmare from her memory, knowing from past experiences that it wasn't going to work. The sun was setting and dusk was creeping in, casting an eerie pale blue light in her room. Fifteen minutes later, Caulder popped his head in her door.

"Whistler…get ready. We're out of here in two hours time. The trap is set."

She glanced at the ruggedly handsome Norwegian man from her pillows, a look of connotation in her eyes. Her voice was somewhat softer than it normally was.

"Caulder, do me a favor?"

He crossed his arms and rested lightly on his heels for a minute.

"Sure thing…"

Abby closed her eyes with a furrowed brow and covered her face with her hand. Her fatigue truly showed.

"Don't call me Whistler tonight."

He nodded, completely understanding without saying a word. The name game, was strictly a thing between her and King, sort of a comfort for them. The rest of the crew had picked up the last name reference purely by habit. He knew tonight would be a difficult one for her without her cocky and brash counterpart but he would look out for her just the same.

Abby was going to hate what she was about to do. She prepared herself for yelling, screaming, temper-tantrums, and maybe a little bloodshed. Sooner or later, it was going to have to be done though. She was going in to tell King that he had to sit this one out. Normally, he might have not taken it so bad, but tonight was going to be huge! This was a major bust. Making sure to knock first, she heard a grunt from the other side of the door, which to her, meant that it was okay to come in. So, taking in a deep breath and plastering on a sweet smile, Abigail walked into his room. As soon as she had entered, King knew something was up. Abby was wearing that grin again. The last time he saw that grin was about 3 months ago when she wrecked his Ducati by taking it for a spin, and having to lay it down on the asphalt when three vampires tried to run her off the road.

"What did you break this time?"

Her smile softened into a real one as she recalled the incident he referred to. She sat on the bed and tried to dodge his question by asking him one.

"How are you feeling?"

King swiftly picked up on her technique and was not about to let her get away that easy.

"I'm fine for the moment…until you tell me what you broke. I mean, here I am, laid up in bed, infirmed. I haven't seen you all day and now you show up with this innocent look on your face. You must've broken something."

She sighed and closed her eyes, peeking out at his with a pained look on her face. King sat up quickly.

"I knew it!"

Abby raised her hands up in her defense.

"Wait a minute…I didn't break anything. I just have to tell you something…"

King motioned for her to go on, but judging from her demeanor, he still wasn't going to be a happy camper when he found out what it was.

"I'm going hunting for Sander and Dalton tonight. Now before you say anything, I'm not going alone…I'm not that stupid…"

Suddenly King interrupted her.

Fuckin' right! I'm gonna…"

Abby decided to cut him short this time before he leapt out of bed and started getting ready. Although, she was sure he'd be leaping out of that bed in five seconds anyway…to choke her.

"…Caulder's coming with me."

All of his coloring drained from his face and Abby realized how he strangely resembled himself when she first picked him up, body wracked with Anemia and, ironically, covered in blood. For the moment, he just sat there paralyzed. Then Abby saw the fire that was flickering to life in his eyes as his anger built up.

"You're gonna get fucking killed! That bloody foreigner doesn't know what the hell he's doing out there and you know damn good and well that you can't afford to fuck up with these two."

"Exactly! That's why you are staying here. You're injured King! I can't risk having you be forced to half-ass a job because you can barely stand up straight. Look, I don't like this idea either…Trust me."

King looked torn and frustrated with his own anger. His voice was soft and pleading with resolve.

"He can't protect you like I do, Abby…"

She offered him a smile. No matter how much experience she had, he would always feel the need to keep her safe. Reaching for his hand, Abigail gave it a small pat and looked at him with determination.

"I'm a big girl…I can take care of myself. Right now, I need to get ready. I'll come back in to see you before I leave, okay?"

With that, she left him and headed for the locker rooms. It felt really odd, grabbing all of her gear by herself. Usually King had it down to a science. He would pass her the equipment and help her secure her holsters, making sure they were tight enough, even if Abby was going out alone to handle the lighter side of slaying. Not to mention the room was too quiet. Caulder was just stone set in his concentration. At this point, King would offer up some quips of his to lighten the mood and get her relaxed enough to go out. She looked up at Caulder one more time and met his eyes as he spoke.

"Everything good?"

She simply nodded.

"He'll survive…but I do need to tell him that we're leaving."

King's door was opened and the horrid sounds of Wayne Newton filled the air inside. He was pouting…He looked pathetic and disgruntled still laying in bed in his pajamas, while she on the other hand, was decked out for battle.

"Come to gloat, have you?"

Abby gave a slight sigh at his childish behavior, but that was just his way of dealing with things. If it were her in his situation, she would've just given him the cold shoulder and a case of silent treatment.

"You know I wouldn't do that to you…Not right now at least. I've come to tell you that we're leaving. Do you need anything before I go?"

He wouldn't even look at her. He just laid there staring into the oblivion of the ceiling.

"Nothing I can't get for myself by falling down the stairs and breaking my neck, but thank you anyway."

He was being so dramatic.

"Seriously King…anything?"

Finally he looked up at her with a serious glance.

"No Whistler, I'm okay."

She shrugged not really knowing what else to do or say. She knew Caulder was waiting on her at the foot of the stairs.

"Well then, I'm gone…I'll check in when I get home. Get some rest."

As she left, King's eyes trailed her form out of the room. He had an uneasy feeling, somehow making her retreating image stick in his mind. He whispered even though he knew she wouldn't be able to hear him.

"Be safe Abby."