Chapter 33

"When Glen died, he saved me by magic." Taker was pretty sure he had already told her this, but… at the moment, he was a bit too fuzzy to remember. "A side-effect was… it fused with me, it became this thing in me, and I could always feel it, especially when I used it. I don't think he meant for me to have magical abilities, but magic itself tends to be unpredictable at times." Pulling out a small stone from the satchel, it was fused all right, to his own heart. "I don't think Glen meant to put it directly in me, but he wasn't trained, you see." Taker held it up, the talisman encased in Mythril. He had melted it and then blown it like he would have glass. "As long I leave it here, in Wonderful, the protection remains and nobody except me can use it. It's… part of me." That explained why he was feeling drained, taking all that magic out of himself had been a chore and a half. "And the Mythril will protect it, it'll only respond to me." He held it out to Abigail, watching as she took it. The entire thing turned black. "Neat, isn't it?"

"I-I don't understand…you created this from the magic inside of you Glen gave? That means you're…weaker, right? You'll be weak going out on this run." Taker had sacrificed himself yet again for this town and all the people in it. They needed Malcolm more than ever, she was convinced after what this man had to endure and give up. "Taker!" She dropped the stone on the bed and rushed to him, seeing he'd dropped to a knee and cupped his face in her hands, pure worry and concern filling her eyes. "Come on, you need to lay down. Don't pass out until you're in bed."

Abigail draped his arm around her shoulders and managed to get him over to the bed, watching him fall on his back on top of it. Why would he do this to himself? She knew he wanted to protect Wonderful, so why not send his best guys out on this hospital run? Why did Taker have to go? She climbed on the bed to take his hand, trying like hell not to show how much this bothered her to see him so physically drained and pressed it to her mouth. Wonderful needed him and so did she for the final battle with Bray, even if his defenses and strength were about to be severely depleted.

"Damn it…" She whispered, hating how much she cared about him and released his hand to grab the stone on the bed beside her, eyeing it for a few minutes.

If Mythril could do this, protect an entire town, she could only imagine what Malcolm could do with his powers and Mythril.

"Put it down, honey," Steve said from the doorway, carrying a tray laden with food and pill bottles on it. "It won't work for anyone but him. Best… stick it in his satchel and hide it somewhere." Taker told him his plans, just in case something had gone wrong. He watched as Abigail did as he bid, setting the tray down on the table and glanced through the open curtains to where the Undertaker lay, passed the hell out. "He'll be fine. He's just… another regular human now." He said, trying to reassure her. "Hardy sent up a bunch of shit for him to get him back on his feet." He knew why Taker had done this, to see if he COULD, to leave Wonderful protected in the event something happened to him.

Well, he was going to hope the test run was a success.

"Wait…WHAT?!" Abigail's jaw dropped at Steve's confession as she stared down at Taker, covering her mouth with her hand. "No – NO! He can't disguise himself when he goes on that run tomorrow! How…How could he DO this?!" She hadn't meant to rage to Steve, but…Taker was human. Fully human, which meant he'd taken ALL of his magic out of himself in order to protect Wonderful.

"Abbie, it's gonna be okay. We'll take care of him…"

She went right back to sitting on the bed beside him, holding his hand and let the tears flow down her cheeks, wondering why his disguise had changed so suddenly the moment his knee hit the floor. It was his body reacting to all the magic being siphoned out of him.

"Abbie…"

"I'm not leaving him." Her voice shook, cracked and she didn't bother turning to face Steve, hearing the door close behind her moments later.

Fuck the common house, fuck Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins, fuck everything and everyone right now. The ONLY thing she cared about was Taker and hoped he woke up soon, just wanting him to be alright.

Hours later it was Jeff Hardy coming to check on Taker, not surprised to find Abigail there as well. Steve had told him her reaction and he let himself into the room, not surprised to find her there still. He began turning on lights, walking over to sit on the edge of the bed, staring down into Taker's proper face, mild scars, and all.

"He's going to be fine." He announced after checking the big man's pulse. "I don't know much about magic, Abigail, but I'm going to assume his body and brain put him into a reboot. He was prepared for it." He looked at her, frowning at the tears in her eyes.

"Fuck…"

"How do you feel?"

"Hungover…"

"Taker?"

Abigail scrambled up from laying down, not able to fall asleep until he woke up and looked down at him, relief coursing through her eyes and body. He was alright. He was awake and alive, but incredibly weak. If Bray and the DOV struck now, they wouldn't have a prayer. Malcolm was the only one who could help with that. Taker wouldn't have to sacrifice himself this way anymore once Malcolm was in their ranks, away from Bray and the DOV. She stood up from the bed while Jeff looked over Taker, needing a minute and stared out the window, hoping Dean had everything ready for tomorrow night.

She wasn't saying anything to anyone, deciding to blame her 'disappearance' on being upset over what Taker did. It was the best excuse she could come up with and she would claim to spend all of her time in the 'slums' with Dean and his friends. Abigail turned away from the window to look at Taker and could feel the frustration building inside of her. No, she wouldn't unleash it. This was his decision, he was a fool and going on a suicide mission, but yet, he wouldn't use some resources to save an actual sorcerer that could definitely help in the magic department. Taker was a damned idiot.

"Steve brought up some food for you, but he didn't know when you'd wake up." She spoke quietly, distantly. "Do you want some or are you still…not feeling right?"

If Bray and the DOV struck now, they still wouldn't breach those walls, he had ensured that. With or without him, Wonderful was protected and he… he was just… normal. "I need some water." He felt Jeff helping him up, glancing at the younger man.

"I sent up vitamins, normal humans need that shit, Boss." Jeff grinned, nodding at Abigail to go get the tray. "I'll get you some water." He got up and went to retrieve a few bottles.

Abigail retrieved the tray, setting it on the bed beside him and had tucked the stone back in his satchel like Steve requested. She watched silently as he took slowly slips of the water along with the vitamins, not exactly sure how THOSE would help, but she wasn't a doctor. Jeff was a genius and knew what he was doing, obviously. A glance at the clock told her it was after midnight and Abigail realized she had fallen asleep with him. It was probably why she felt a little fatigued since Jeff had woken her up upon arrival to check on Taker.

She sipped her own water Jeff handed her, thanking him and pulled the hair tie out of her hair, letting it tumble down her back since her head hurt from keeping it up in the messy bun all this time. Taker would be leaving in mere hours, before the sun rose…so much for what could be their final night together. It was selfish to think that way and she knew it, but she was only human and had hoped to have one final night with Taker like they'd had the past 2 nights. Then the fool had to go and…humanize himself, if that even made sense…and knocked himself out for most of the night.

"Man, are you going to be up for this?" Jeff asked, watching as Taker began to slowly pull himself out of bed. "I know it's been… forever, since you were, um, normal, and you know my theories on that."

"I'm fine."

He rolled his shoulders, cracking his neck from side to side, and stared down at Abigail. It was weird, he thought, not being able to shift his looks or feel the magic from Glen coursing through his veins. He reached back, turning to the side so his profile was to her, and began gathering up his excessively long, dark red hair. Faded scars beneath his mustache and goatee, and a black teardrop beneath his eye, something he had done jailhouse style in memory of his brother.

"Just… feels odd."

"Yeah, no shit, you've been living with magic boosting your natural abilities and strength. Eat. Abbie, shove food down his throat if you have to. I'm going to sleep. And seriously, take some of those damn vitamins, we don't know what lingering effects there might be, or what that magic was making up for in your system."

"Because a lack of potassium might kill me…" Taker snorted, dropping down to sit on the edge of the bed.

So this was his TRUE form. The teardrop, the long dark red hair, the faint scars from the house fire, this was all him. Abigail stared in wonder, tilting her head slightly and reached out to touch his face with her hand, caressing it tenderly. He was going out there completely defenseless, would she ever see him again? Abigail couldn't let it weigh on her mind because she had her own task to undertake, her own mission, one she knew he wouldn't approve of.

"He's right. You need to eat." She left him be for the time being and stood up to stare out the window again, looking up at the moon. Don't come yet Bray, she thought, silently praying they both made it back in one piece.

Frowning, Taker walked over to stand behind her, bending down to wrap his arms around her, resting his chin on top of her head, and stared out the window as well. "You know, nothing with ill intent will ever be able to get inside Wonderful, don't you?" He asked softly, feeling the tension in her. Magic wasn't necessary to read her body language. "The DOV could sit outside the walls for years and not be able to get in."

Not that that wouldn't harm Wonderful in the long run, because it would. They were self-sustaining to a point, but not 100%. He moved so his mouth was by her ear, then trailed his nose down the side of her neck.

"It'll be fine, darlin'."

"You're leaving here without magic though, without your disguise. You're completely human now…and you expect me not to worry about you?" Abigail turned to stare up at him, feeling his forehead rest against hers and relished the feeling, caressing his face. "I know why you did what you did and it's commendable. It's heroic and noble, it shows you really do care about every single person living here, even if you don't always agree with them." Dean Ambrose came to mind. "For the record, this is my favorite look on you. Because it's ACTUALLY you, I am looking at, and not some disguise. Now you really need to eat before that Hardy boy comes back up here and sticks his foot up your ass for not listening."

At that Taker snorted, shaking his head and took Abigail's hand, guiding her back with him. He sat on the bed, pulling the tray towards him and gestured for her to sit with him. "I don't have to like people, darlin', to know what the right thing to do is." He informed her with a grin, the idea of Jeff Hardy kicking his ass, magic or not, amusing as hell. "So you don't mind this look? It might be permanent." He could probably do with trim on his hair, it was pretty long.

"Not at all. I wouldn't mind if it was permanent because it's actually you. I was wondering what your actual look was and I'm not disappointed."

Abigail slid her fingers through his beautiful hair, glad he had long hair, even though he looked good with short hair too. There was something about the long hair though that really turned her on. The tattoos were actually him too, another plus. She kissed his arm, watching him eat, and moved behind him to begin rubbing his shoulders, making sure his hair didn't get in his food. They still had a few more hours before he was leaving, but he also needed more rest to recuperate from taking the magic out of him.

"I'm going to miss you." She spoke in his ear softly, kissing the top of his head while continuing the massage.

His mouth was full of food, so he didn't immediately reply. "I'm going to miss you too, Abbie." He replied truthfully, meaning it. "Hopefully, we'll be able to do this run with no problems. Since you're here, the DOV has backed off… and you said Wyatt gave you a few months, right?" At her nod, he let out a slow sigh. "We'll be fine, darlin'."

He ate in silence, trying not to groan around his food at how good her massage felt on his shoulders, though she also seemed to be getting distracted by his many tattoos. When he was finished, he put his dishes and everything else back on the tray. Moving it aside so he could make room for her, Taker pulled her down to lay on the bed with him.

"Mark." He said after a moment, smiling at her puzzled look. "My name is Mark."

"Mark?" Undertaker wasn't his actual name? Granted, it was a tad morbid sounding, but she did think that was his birth name. She'd been calling him Taker during their… "Oh wow…okay…"

Why was he telling her this now? It didn't matter, Abigail could only smile at him and caressed his face again, her thumb brushing the teardrop etched into his skin. It was black, just below his right eye and she leaned over to brush her lips against it before kissing him softly.

"Mark." She said it again, this time with clarity instead of question and nodded. "I like it. It suits you. I noticed nobody else calls you by that in public though, so I'll just call you Mark when we're alone, if you want." Something told her he didn't divulge his actual name to a lot of people, which made her part of his 'circle' Ambrose talked about. "How long will you be gone for?"