Chapter 29
"There you are!" Trish exclaimed, standing from the booth and hugged Abigail, who looked a little perplexed because she wasn't the only one in the common house.
"Where the hell have you been?!"
"Woman, you can't just go wanderin' off like that! We thought ya left Wonderful! Taker's been goin' outta his mind lookin' for you!"
Oh shit, Abigail thought, her eyes wide and swallowed hard, not wanting to tell them where she was because of Dean's feelings about Taker.
She had a feeling Taker had ill feelings toward the electric blue-eyed, eccentric man she'd spent the majority of her afternoon with. He HAD been going out of his mind. Taker was back in it and not overly amused. While making his rounds through Wonderful, he spotted Abigail sitting under a willow tree with none other than Dean Ambrose. That man was a colossal pain in his ass. Neither of them would have paid him any attention, he hadn't looked anything like himself at the time and he had left, not bothering to eavesdrop or stick around. She was safe enough, and apparently enjoying the other man's company.
"We're headin' for that hospital in a few days' time." Steve explained, leading her towards the common house. "Jeff and Matt have a fuckin' list of what they want brought back, so we're gonna try the travel trailers."
"No." Steve stopped, and Abigail looked up at him, shaking her head. "I don't…I don't think it's a good idea for me to go out of Wonderful right now. Stephanie is down and out for the time being because of her pregnancy. There's not enough hands in the common house, not without proper training, so I should stay here and help out with that." Not to mention, she wanted to go see Dean again to see if he would help her.
"She's right, Steve." Trish interjected, wrapping an arm around Abigail's shoulders. "We really do need her right now. Susan isn't that well-trained and…we're really scarce with help."
Amy had been throwing up every hour on the hour, so Taker ordered her to bedrest for the next couple days until her morning sickness passed. Matt was…he didn't know what to think and hadn't really said anything regarding her pregnancy. Amy wouldn't be able to go on the run either due to her morning sickness and pregnancy.
"Speaking of the common house, we need to get dinner started." Abigail walked inside the building and sighed when Trish dragged her to the back, barely having time to grab her apron.
"Where were you and what were you doing?"
"I went for a walk to clear my head and…hung out with someone. Friendly only. He's a nice guy. Now, what are we making tonight?"
"Okay, I know I'm blonde, but I'm not stupid. I'm very aware something is going on between you and Taker." Trish wasn't letting the newbie brush this aside, frowning. "Don't hurt him." She was pretty sure Abigail had been told this before and, when Abbie just nodded, she smiled again. "Know the guy's name? He from this area or… where were you? Which part of Wonderful did you see?"
That was the second time she'd been told not to hurt Taker and it made Abigail wonder why these women were so protective of him. It didn't make sense to her. Granted, he was the leader and had magic, maybe that was the reason.
"I don't really know. I just went for a walk further into Wonderful and…there were vendors and people out on the street selling things or trading, whatever you wanna call it. I wasn't aware Wonderful had multiple areas." She pulled out the stuff for dinner, sighing when Trish wouldn't leave her alone about the guy's name. "Dean. Dean Ambrose…" She watched Trish's face grow pale white, the color completely draining and sat her down before the poor woman passed out. "I'm going to assume you know him…"
"That's an understatement. You need to stay away from him, Abbie. He's…bad news. Really bad news…" Trish frowned, wondering if Taker knew about this since she hadn't seen much of him after he'd made his rounds throughout Wonderful.
"Why is that? Because he doesn't agree with Taker's methods and not part of the 'circle' you guys have going here?"
Trish recoiled at that, frowning. "I'm sorry? What circle? What is your damage, Abigail?" Considering they had taken her in, literally brought her to their meetings to help plan, let her openly contradict others and in general be 'one' of them, that was a bit uncalled for. "If you don't like how things are done here, I'll tell you the same thing you told Melina a month ago: Leave." She shook her head, pushing herself upright. There was work to be done. "I'm telling you right now, Ambrose and Taker don't get along and for good reason. Watch your ass, Abigail."
It was just like the DOV, only women are treated equally here instead of breeders. There was one leader, who dictated everything, and he had his tight little circle of people, while the others just went about their business. She thought things were different here, but after talking to Dean, she realized she was wrong.
"I will."
There was nothing more to say to the blonde. Abigail shook her head in disappointment, hating these feelings of contradiction, but she couldn't help it. Dean had really opened her eyes to the truth today and made her realize not every person in Wonderful was treated the same. Pushing those thoughts out of her head, along with Dean and Taker, Abigail began preparing dinner. There were others that were in training, so she was busy helping them, showing them the ropes alongside Trish, who had to take frequent breaks because of her pregnancy. She didn't stop until everything was done, everyone who came in fed, including cleanup. Instead of going up to bed, Abigail left the common house and went to the workout building, needing to blow off some steam.
Taker was in there, boxing. Today he was what Stephanie liked to call 'Lord of Darkness' mode, the jet black, long hair and beard. He had skipped dinner, his mind trying to focus on this upcoming trip to the hospital and how he would leave Wonderful protected for at least 2 weeks. He already knew how, and it was going to be… odd. Stopping when he spotted Abigail coming through the door, Taker wiped sweat off his brow with the towel he had left nearby. He walked around so she could see him properly, wearing nothing but black shorts to work out in.
"You look upset, darlin'."
"How perceptive of you, whoever you are today." Abigail muttered, not in the mood to deal with him or his disguises, wondering why he used magic to change up his appearance, but not for actual IMPORTANT things.
Did his scars really bother him that much? It was as if he wanted to use magic for HIS purposes, and to protect Wonderful, but nothing else. Didn't it matter to him his father was a captive of the DOV and could be the only man, in all of Vesperia, who could actually SAVE them? She had changed into a black sports bra and black shorts with her black tennis shoes, her hair still in the braid. Maybe Dean was her answer, instead of Taker, she didn't know any more and it frustrated her to no end. It also bothered her Trish said Dean was bad news. What did that mean? Instead of going for weightlifting, she went to the bag and began kicking it like Amy taught her. She would kick until she could barely walk and then drag her backside up to her bed in the common house to sleep.
"Same person I always am." If she was upset because he hadn't immediately jumped on her bandwagon this morning, that just sucked to be her. Taker circled around Abigail, hands clasped behind his back as he watched her vent her issues out on that poor bag. "I thought about what you said this morning, about rescuing Malcolm." He informed her. "And I'm not committing time, people and resources into going into that hellhole just for one person. If we go in, we go in with the intention of getting him out and killing Bray Wyatt at the same time. I don't understand why you think magic is how you beat the DOV, Abbie," His tone was calm, curious. "Wyatt holds it together, and Malcolm is just a tool for him to use. Just like you were an excuse, a justification for him." Killing Wyatt didn't require magic, he'd gladly do it with his bare hands. "And Wonderful will be protected whether I am in the walls or not." At the look she was giving him, he held out his hands, palms up. "I can't risk so much on one person, darlin'. There are thousands of lives here at stake. You WANT Wyatt to come to Wonderful, whereas I would rather not have a battlefield outside of these walls."
Had she ever seen the aftermath of a war? The bodies littering the ground, the blood, the decay? The soil was usually ruined for years, any nearby water polluted. War wasn't just killing. It was forcing people under siege, which is what Wonderful would be in that event, to suffer and slowly die behind their safety. Sabotaging water. Destroying crops. These were methods as old as the world.
"I can't have this at my door, not because that is what you want. If he comes, so be it, but I'm not going to rush him here either when there are other alternatives."
Abigail listened to what he said, remaining silent and stopped kicking the bag, knowing what she would have to do. Find another way to get Malcolm out. In her mind, in her heart, she knew it was the right thing to do. Malcolm had sacrificed everything and saved his one and only granddaughter, going as far as to make Bray believe she was dead. Magic WAS the solution to all of their problems; there wouldn't be a need for a fight because the DOV would crumble from within, especially with their sorcerer gone. Magic was the way to save Vesperia and, if Malcolm died, they would be screwed since he was last of the magic bloodline. The sooner they got him out of the castle and to Wonderful, the better off everyone would be. Taker was a stubborn man, and Abigail admired that about him, but she was just as stubborn and wanted her people liberated, wanted Bray Wyatt stopped, by any means necessary, even if she had to do it without him.
"I understand, Taker. I don't want war here either and I don't want any more innocent blood shed than there has been. Just…let me know when you want to go after him because I AM going with you. I want to see him fall, after everything he's done." There was no room for argument in her tone as she stared at him, folding her arms in front of her chest. "Don't think for a second I'm not coming with you to take that son of a bitch down." She'd sneak out if she had to.
He smiled down at her, somewhat amused and reached out to tug her arms off her chest out of the hostile position she had assumed. "Such a brave woman you are, ordering me around." Taker teased, testing the waters by pulling her into his arms, feeling Abigail tensing. He wanted to ask her about Dean Ambrose, but he didn't. He already knew where the hostile posture and her tone had come from, that scruffy jackass. "I wouldn't leave you behind, Abbie."
"You wouldn't?"
Abigail searched his eyes to see if he was being truthful and didn't see an ounce of deception, her body physically relaxing after a few seconds. As kind and funny as Dean Ambrose was, there was something about Taker that fueled her and made her want him more than any other man. Friendship would be the only thing she could offer Dean and she would have to make that clear to him if they were to hang out. She wasn't apologizing for taking a walk and hanging out with someone else either, deciding not to even mention it unless he brought it up.
"Thank you." She slid her hands up his bare sweaty chest, not appalled by it because her body was equally sweaty, her fingers reaching up to stroke his beard.
It was interesting, how she failed to mention Ambrose, and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that his name would have come up. Abigail was inquisitive, and Dean didn't think much of him at all. The feeling was fairly mutual. Not that Ambrose didn't have his uses, because he did. He was a self-professed jack of all trades, not exactly what Taker would have called him, however.
"Did you eat?" He asked quietly, tugging her towards the doors. "Come up to the tower with me, Abbie."
"Okay." Abigail couldn't deny him and felt him lace their fingers together, almost as if he was afraid she'd disappear or something "And to answer your question, yes I did eat."
She let him guide her to the tower and climbed the stairs until they were back in Taker's room again. So many fond memories…had all of that really happened the previous night? Abigail felt her cheeks flush slightly, the sweat slowly drying on her skin and kicked her shoes off, knowing she would be staying the night. She hoped anyway, unless Taker actually wanted to talk instead of exploring their bodies. When he walked into the bathroom to kick on the shower sprays and dragged her in there to join him, she had her answer.
Taker wanted to talk, but not about 'work', so to speak. Instead, he asked about her day, took note of what she did tell him and ignored what she didn't. He hadn't asked Abigail to be 'his' woman and didn't exactly have a say over who she hung out with. The last thing he wanted to do was step on her toes. Taker doubted she'd have time in the upcoming days, with him gone, to go out and hang around with Ambrose. He told her what he had done, which was partially follow her around, and the other part had been being dragged about by the Hardy's and listening to them giving him a 'wish list' of what they wanted now and what they would definitely need in the future.
"Turn around, you got… this is syrup… in your hair…"
"What? Are you serious?" Abigail frowned, reaching back to feel the sticky spot and groaned, wondering how the hell that happened. She didn't recall Ambrose flicking any food at her while they ate dinner – breakfast – whatever one wanted to call it. "Can you get it out?"
If she had to cut her hair, she would feed the tresses gone to Ambrose, personally. Taker assured her it would be fine and began working it out of her hair while washing it, moaning at how good his fingers felt massaging her scalp. Why did that feel good, of all things? Maybe telling him about Ambrose was the right thing to do, especially if this was a long-term thing between them.
