Chapter 41
"So they were outside the gates when you guys rolled in?"
Once everything had been settled down and Taker was less… stern, Steve had finally taken a moment to sit down with his friend. He had even brought food, gathering on the road eating hadn't been so good. They were sitting in the tower, eating and discussing what had gone on in Wonderful in Taker's absence. Then Taker told him about Dean, Abigail, and Malcolm being outside just as they got back.
"They were." He had seen Malcolm down in the common house, with Susan, and he had gone in a few times, but Taker hadn't seen his father in nearly two decades. It was like seeing a stranger for the most part. "And she's been in hiding with Ambrose."
Steve was a bit curious how they had gotten out; he didn't recall anyone mentioning Abigail leaving Wonderful.
Abigail wasn't hiding out, she was PASSED out.
It was just after 8 AM when her eyes fluttered open, two days later, staring up at a ceiling she didn't recognize. She wasn't outside, she was in a…bed. Looking down, she was still fully clothed and nobody else was with her, which was good. Every part of her hurt, stung, and burned, but…Abigail felt satisfied all things considered. When her door opened, she nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight of a semi-blurry Dean walking in with a tray of food and came to the fast conclusion where she was.
"Dean…" The relief that crossed his face made her crack a small smile as she pushed herself up to stand, feeling weak and fatigued from sleeping so long. "W-What time is it?" It was currently raining outside – fitting.
"Hell if I know, babe." He remarked, sitting the tray down on a small table before walking over to gently nudge her back down onto the bed in a sitting position. "Not so fast, Abs, you're probably weak as fuck." She'd had a fever and he had been taking care of her while she slept it off. Her life in the castle, and then basically being a serving wench here in Wonderful, hadn't done her body any favors. Being outside, outdoors, for nearly a month had taken its toll on her. "Here." Dean reached onto the tray for the bottle of water, holding it out to her. "See if you can keep that down. Then there's…" He surveyed the food. "Fruits, some light rolls, and soup…"
"What happened? I don't remember anything past walking into the gates of Wonderful…" She slowly took a sip of water, pressing a hand to her forehead, which was cool for the moment.
"You had a fever, Abs. You collapsed just inside the gates and I brought you here to rest." Dean sighed heavily, placing a hand on her shoulder and urged her to drink. She would need a lot of fluids over the next few days and more rest to recover. "A bad one. It wouldn't break for 12 hours and when it finally did, well…let's just say, you need a shower and to clean up, after you eat." He didn't want her collapsing in the shower.
"Christ…" Abigail frowned, wondering why it felt as if all the energy had been sucked out of her, and took a small bite of the roll on the tray, her stomach tightening. At least she was hungry, so her appetite hadn't vanished. "How long was I out for?" Her eyes widened when he told her two days. There was so much to do, so much she'd missed out on, and hoped Malcolm was settling into Wonderful alright. "I-I need to go talk to Malcolm, make sure he's okay…" Mark was also on her agenda because she couldn't avoid him forever, and…she had to return the crystal to him.
"That's good…"
It wouldn't last forever, though, and now that she knew Bray's secret, it was time to get to work on breaking the spell he had on him. Malcolm and Mark were the ONLY ones who could do it. Abigail had one thing on her mind, one goal and that was destroying the DOV. On the journey back to Wonderful, she realized how stupid she'd been to let her personal feelings interfere with what needed to be done. Mark probably despised her and wanted nothing to do with her, which was fine with Abigail, or so she tried convincing herself. Dean…no, she couldn't think about either man right now and continued eating, only getting through half the soup and roll, with a bite of fruit, before pushing it away.
"I can't eat anymore…" She mumbled, scrubbing a hand down her face, and managed to stand up from the bed to look out the window. "I really need a shower, that'll make me feel better…"
"Yeah probably." Dean agreed, glancing out the window and frowned when thunder crashed, followed by lightning streaking across the sky. This storm was weird and unseasonal as fuck. "You can't go out today though, Abs, not until this storm passes." He wasn't risking her getting sick again, or sicker as it were, since she obviously wasn't operating at 100%. "This shit has been going on since the first night back."
Not that she would know that, she had been unconscious. Roman and Seth had been helping to unload and set up everything brought back, both men returning to check-in, frequently, and then the storm had gotten worse. Roman and Seth were now out in the kitchen, having made up an emergency kit, so to speak, in case they lost what power they did have.
Hearing the concern in his voice, Abigail conceded and felt his arm wrap around her, guiding her out of the room to the bathroom. "Thank you, Dean." Everything was set up for her already as another crack of thunder rumbled the place, but the power remained on. "I'll hurry as fast as I can."
Shutting the door, she shed her clothes, started the sprays, and stepped under them, planting her hands against the wall to let the water wash away the dirt, grime, and dried sweat from her body. A fever? Had she been sick and not realized it? Abigail washed her hair, trying to push Mark out of her mind for the moment. The crystal was safe, she would return it to him as soon as she was better because Ambrose wouldn't let her out of this building otherwise. Once she finished, half an hour later, she stepped out, towel-dried her hair, dressed in the fresh clothes he'd gotten from her bag, and stepped out, feeling more alive than she had. How the hell was she still tired though?
It never failed to amaze him how Abigail operated. She had voiced her concerns about still being tired and he had to wonder when the last time she had been sick was. "Babe, with as high a fever as you had, not surprising. You're not used to trekking like we just did; your body isn't used to it." Hell, she could have even picked up something out there and, if she hadn't ever been vaccinated, which wouldn't be surprising given how long ago that was, her immune system may have waged a battle against that. Just no way of telling.
"Man, if I didn't know any better, I'd say Taker is pissed." Roman muttered, heading out to start securing the door against the now coming down hail.
Was this storm because of Mark? Abigail frowned, remembering him telling her about his magic being stored in the crystal. He was human, he couldn't change his appearance or anything due to the siphoning.
"I have to go see him."
"Abigail, no."
"Don't tell me what to do. I have to return something to him and talk to him about what happened. Jesus…" Abigail swallowed hard when another streak of lightning lit up the building. "I'll be fine…I don't have a fever anymore and more than enough time has been wasted."
"Abs…" Dean groaned, not wanting her to go out in this after just waking up from a two-day coma. "Please…"
"I'll be back in a couple of hours. But I have to talk to him about this. The DOV could've found out it was us that took Malcolm out of that castle and you know it. I'm wasting time when we have little of that left as it is. I'll be fine." Abigail reasoned, already pulling her jacket on that she'd gotten from the thrift store a few weeks ago. "Don't wait up." She headed down the stairs, her shoes already on, and didn't bother braiding her hair, leaving it flowing down her back. Her first stop would be the workout center, where she'd stored the crystal and then…it was time to face the music.
"You look like… shit." Jeff Hardy and his brother were in the workout center, occupying themselves physically since this storm was preventing them from doing anything else other than socializing.
"What is she doing?" Matt asked, watching as Abigail walked over to a corner, eyeballing the planks. "That old dude was there too, the other day… what the hell is up with that corner?" Old dude had seemed amused at something and then left.
"Hell if I know."
Abigail breathed a sigh of relief as soon as she lifted the plank and retrieved the satchel, feeling the crystal still inside. She quickly put the plank back in place, slipped the satchel in her pocket, and headed out, ignoring the Hardy's. Abigail didn't care how she looked, even though it was probably the equivalence to a drowned rat. Looking up at the tower, determination flowed through her as she walked through the storm, the wind whipping her hair around, and stopped just outside the door. They were going to talk – it'd been two days too long and time was not on their side. This stubborn man had to listen to reason as Abigail took a deep breath and banged on the door to make sure he heard. She jumped when a streak of lightning flashed across the sky the same time the door opened, locking midnight blue on acidic green. Before she could open her mouth, he yanked her inside out of the pouring rain and Abigail was thankful he at least let her inside, soaked from head to toe.
"What, Abigail?" He demanded harshly, heading up the stairs to his rooms, and glanced back at her over his shoulder. Frowning, Taker disappeared into the bathroom to get her towels. "You're going to get sick out in this." He informed her, wrapping one towel around her shoulders and the other he used to begin toweling her head dry. This weather wasn't doing anyone any favors, the only bright side was the lake getting all the surplus.
"Considering I've been unconscious and had a high fever for the past two days and finally woke up this morning…yeah, probably." Abigail remarked dryly, not pushing him away because at least he was touching her.
Roman thought Mark was causing this storm and that wasn't the case because, right now, he was completely human without his magic. The very magic that was in her pocket currently. She clutched the dry towel against her and let him finish toweling her hair before turning to face him, fighting the urge to reach up to touch his face. At least he'd made it back unscathed and no worse for wear, alive.
"I won't take up your time, I just…wanted to give this back to you." Pulling the satchel out of her pocket, she handed it over without hesitation.
His response was to toss the thing onto the table, knowing the Mythril orb would protect his talisman. After spending this time as fully human, and finally sorting out what was his own strengths from the talisman's, Taker wasn't in any hurry to put it back inside of him or wear it or whatever. It would do its main job without being attached to him.
"Thank you for keeping it safe." He said after a moment, wondering where the hell to even begin, his acidic eyes narrowing.
"You're welcome." Abigail took the towel off her shoulders and set it aside, heaving a sigh. "You're angry with me and I knew you would be. It was my idea to do it, to sneak out of Wonderful and I asked for Dean's help. He's not to blame for any of this. It's all on me and I take full responsibility for my actions. But I also don't regret what I did either because I know it was the right thing to do." Now that she knew Bray was invulnerable, Malcolm was a NEED for them in order to survive. "I'm not apologizing for what I did, Mark." There was no reason to. Susan and Malcolm were back together, safe and sound, away from the tyranny of Bray Wyatt and now they had plenty of magic on their side. "I'm glad you made it back safely. I was worried about you going out there without your magic." When he still didn't say a word, just glared at her, Abigail surmised he wasn't ready to talk yet and understood why. "I'll go, sorry for bothering you." Turning, she headed for the door and began making her way down the stairs.
Contrary to Dean Ambrose's predictions that people would question his authority, as well as the direction he had led Wonderful in over the last decade and then some, nobody knew a thing. As far as anyone was concerned, Malcolm was just another stray brought in. "I don't understand you." He said flatly, causing her to halt mid-step. "You came in here seeking refuge from the DOV and then decided you knew what is best for everyone. The fact that you're dependent on magic, and what you think you know of magic, is alarming, Abbie." She reminded him of a child, someone who still saw, in this case magic, as the means to all problems.
Abigail was firm enough in these obsessions of hers that she had risked his wrath for them.
"No, I didn't come here seeking refuge, that's where you're wrong." She turned to face him, drawing her brows together, and decided if they were going to hash this out, it would be now. "I was SENT here by that asshole Bray Wyatt to spy on you and your comrades and to find out what Mythril can do, if it had magical properties. Malcolm wasn't sure, which is why I was sent to investigate. That was my chance to escape the castle, come here and ask for the leader's assistance in bringing down the DOV. I was never a refuge." Abigail corrected him, taking a deep breath, and leaned against the door frame with her arms folded. "And I'm gonna let you in on some information you didn't know, Undertaker." Calling him Mark was not an option right now. "Rescuing Malcolm WAS the right thing to do because, if you would've gone in there with your men to try destroying the DOV and Bray, you would've been slaughtered. Your father informed me that, when he was taken by Bray 8 years ago, he was forced to put a spell on him that made him invulnerable to death. That means YOU CAN'T KILL HIM. Unless the spell is broken, with MAGIC. It takes two of your bloodline, your family's bloodline, to break it and, since Bray believes Malcolm's children are all dead, well, he thinks currently he's invincible. I tried telling you magic was the only way to bring Bray and the DOV down, and you didn't listen to me. Because you hate magic and you think magic has destroyed Vesperia. I've got news for you, it's the ONLY way for us to survive now. And as far as me deciding what's best for everyone – no, that's on you and I didn't agree with you or your methods, so I found another way."
