Chapter 47
"No, you're not." Dean protested softly, staring into her eyes thoughtfully, and shook his head. "You're not fine."
Glancing towards the common house, he wondered what had happened to make her so sad. Was it Taker? He knew Abigail had been expecting the worst and, while he was definitely hoping that they hadn't reconciled, he was not prepared for feeling… bad… and regretful over her obvious distress. Gently, he scooped her up into his arms, carrying her like the princess she was.
"Let me take you home, babe," Dean whispered softly, planting a kiss against the side of her head. "You need to sleep before you get sick again." He doubted Taker was doing her physical well-being any favors, the prick.
"No, I'm not going with you, Dean." Abigail managed to squirm out of his arms, shaking her head and wiped her tears away, wrapping her arms around herself. "I have to…stay here. I have to stay close to Taker, and spend as much time with him as I can. I love him, Dean." Fresh tears formed in her eyes at that confession, one she had already told him during their journey. "I love him, and he might…" Shaking her head, Abigail couldn't talk about this right now and felt as if her heart was being ripped to shreds. "No, I'm fine. I have to be fine. I asked for this, I did this…and I can't…I can't talk about this right now. Tomorrow, tomorrow I'll come back and…tell you what's going on, but not tonight. Not now."
"Abs…"
What the hell? She had told him so much before, but now all of a sudden, she was shutting him down. Dean wasn't going to lie, it bothered him, made him feel a bit used, and his electric blue eyes narrowed when he spotted the Undertaker walking towards them, with the sorcerer, Malcolm, alongside him.
"Darlin'?" There was a question in his tone, his own eyes narrowing at Ambrose. Why was it not a surprise to find that asshole lurking? It looked like Abigail had picked up another suitor.
Abigail tensed at the sound of Mark's voice behind her because her face was a mess of tears and pain. She wasn't shutting Dean down, but she was drained emotionally, mentally, and physically, trying not to think about all the ways this blood sacrifice, blood draining, blood ritual could go wrong. Touching the side of Dean's face, Abigail cracked a very small smile and took a deep breath, trying to dry her tears up.
"I'm okay. Tomorrow, I'll explain everything to you, I promise. You trust me, Dean. Go get some rest, we'll talk tomorrow."
Walking away from him, she turned to face Mark and Malcolm, moving to stand beside the man she loved, taking his hand to lace their fingers together. This was who she wanted, who she loved. Abigail would do everything in her power to make sure he didn't die.
"Good night, everyone." Malcolm bowed his head, walking off back to the common house, and left his son alone with Abigail and Dean Ambrose. He could tell Dean carried a torch for the young lady and hoped he treaded carefully because it was obvious Abigail did not feel the same way for him.
"Let's go to bed, Taker, please." She knew better than to call him Mark in front of Dean.
You're fucking kidding me, was all Dean could think, watching as Taker curled his fingers with Abigail's.
"All right, darlin'." He rumbled, knowing his voice was carrying and inwardly smirked.
Dean Ambrose looked royally peeved, not that he blamed the other man. Abigail was a damn fine catch, but she belonged to HIM. Ambrose would learn that, or he'd get it beaten into his skull. But… it also looked like Abbie's words had hurt Dean worse than he ever could.
"Night, Ambrose." Maybe just a little salt in the wound.
Flying middle finger was his return. Turning, Dean headed back to the slums, trying to reign in his agitation.
Leaning against Mark, Abigail walked inside the tower with him and heard the door shut as she headed up the stairs, not releasing his hand. Once they were in his bedroom, she peeled her tank top and shorts off, shucking her shoes as well, before taking his hand to push him down on the bed. Straddling him, her mouth captured Mark's in a searing kiss, not knowing how many more kisses she would be able to experience with him. When he opened his mouth, she pressed her finger to his lips and pulled his shirt up over his head, kissing him again.
"No talking." She mumbled against his mouth, moving her lips and tongue to his neck, her hands gliding up and down his arms. "Make me yours again, Mark…please…"
At this rate, she was never going to have proper recovery time and Taker didn't overly mind that. He wasn't one to turn a beautiful woman down, well… he was, but not THIS beautiful woman. HIS beautiful woman.
"You ARE mine, darlin'." He rumbled, letting his hands start roaming her body, feeling her pressing into his palms.
Feeling her desperation in waves, Taker sat up, wrapping her in his strong embrace, and began kissing her, trying to reassure her without words that everything was going to be all right. They were going to be fine. They weren't going into this blind, they had a plan, a start, things would work out.
Indeed she was all his, every part and piece of her. Abigail didn't need any recovery time, not when time wasn't on their side, and wrapped her arms around his neck to kiss him back with equal fire, equal passion, equal intensity. They slowly undressed each other, her lips remaining locked together and not parting for more than a couple of minutes at a time. The pain and pleasure mixture was exquisite as Mark filled her once again, claiming her for his own, and rocked in and out of her receptive body methodically.
"M-Mark…" Abigail clung to him for dear life, their fingers lacing above her head as he held her down to thrust inside of her, their eyes locked.
Once they were both sated, satisfied, and had come down from their sexual high, Abigail lifted her head from resting on Mark's shoulder to look into his beautiful emerald eyes. "I love you, Mark." She had to give him something to fight for, something to keep him holding onto life during the blood draining part of the spell. I can't lose him, she thought solemnly, pressing her forehead against his and kissed him, fighting back tears.
"Even though I make you miserable, darlin'?" He asked with a small smile, snorting at her look.
It was the truth. Taker did make her miserable. She was terrified for him, knowing what the potential outcome could be, and before they had officially 'hooked up', to use the old terms, they had been at each other's throats, tearing each other apart verbally. At her nod, he kissed her forehead.
"Good." Taker practically purred his approval. "I love you too, Abigail."
That confession from him opened the floodgates and she cried, burying her face in his neck, her arm wrapped tightly around him. He didn't make her miserable. Sure, their fights weren't that great, but for the most part, he made her happy.
"P-Please don't do this…" Her voice cracked, her entire body trembling, and felt his hand rub her back soothingly, trying to calm her down. "I-I can't lose you and I'm selfish because I know Bray and the DOV have to be stopped." There had to be another way though, another way without potentially killing him and Malcolm. "Live. Stay with me, Mark…please d-don't do this…" Her crying turned to heart-wrenching sobs that tore throughout her small frame. "D-Don't leave me…" Her eyes closed and soon, her entire body sagged against him as Abigail passed out, breathing heavily from how hard she cried.
Bless this woman, she thought he was walking into certain death and he wasn't. They were going to go through with Jeff's plan, the blood amount thing, and if they could drain exactly the right amount of blood, with Malcolm using magic to preserve it… nobody had to die. Minus Wyatt and anyone who stood with him. Sleep, she needed sleep, and once Taker was sure he wouldn't wake her, he gently moved her, tucking her in the blankets, and sighed, staring down into her tear-streaked face. He bent down, brushing his lips against her forehead.
"I'm not leaving you, Abbie." He murmured, frowning when she moaned an anguished sound. "I promise."
The following day, Abigail was woken up to Mark between her thighs, devouring her with his mouth. That was…quite the wakeup call, one she'd never experienced before and hoped it happened a lot more often. He had a smirk on his face, looking like the cat that ate the canary and she just shook her head at him, kissing him feverishly. Abigail wanted to reciprocate and pleasure him in return, but Mark stopped her, simply telling her he was perfectly fine. The pig was on the agenda today, so they both dressed and headed to the common house for breakfast.
"I'll see you later on. I have to go talk to Dean." She informed him after they were done eating, seeing the hesitation on his face, and kissed him soundly. "I love you, remember that." Then, she was off, heading down to the 'slums' to the Shield building with her hair braided over her shoulder.
She could have waited on him since that trek was on the way down to the barns, but… she wanted to see Ambrose on her own. Fine. He lingered in the doorway, sighing as he watched her go, aware when Amy came up alongside him.
"Matt is worried that if you guys do too many uh, donations, in a month, you'll still wind up weak. Is your magic able to cover that?"
"It'll be fine, Red." He reassured her, before rubbing her head affectionately.
Way too many worried women in his life. Of course, he also knew that back in the day, only so much blood was allowed per donation and then there was a waiting period. He really, really hoped Abigail's belief that magic could be a cure-all was right.
Abigail was hoping the same thing regarding magic because this was a life or death situation. They were on the brink of war and had barely any time left since it took at least 2 weeks to get to the DOV from Wonderful. She walked as fast as she could without actually running and stopped outside of the Shield building, taking a deep breath. How the hell was Dean going to react to this? She knew he'd HATE the fact she was putting herself up as bait for Bray, but the pig's blood…Abigail didn't know how he'd respond. There was only one way to find out.
Squaring her shoulders, she walked through the building and headed up the stairs to the loft, not seeing Roman or Seth anywhere, but she could hear the shower running. It must've been Dean. She could NOT have been more wrong as a busty blonde came strolling out in a skimpy towel a few minutes later, a bright smile on her face, and let out a surprised shriek at the sight of Abigail.
"Dean!"
Abigail had to cover her mouth with her hand to keep from laughing as he skidded across the floor, landing directly on his backside at the blonde's feet. "Smooth Ambrose, real smooth." At least he moved on from her, so that was one good thing. "When – uh – you finish up, I need to talk to you. I'll give you some privacy…" Amusement twinkled in her eyes as she made her way to the stairs to head down.
"Who the hell was THAT?"
"The love of my life, Torrie." He laughed, getting on his knees before her, and reached down to rub his bare backside.
"I thought I was?"
"Well sure, I haven't met a woman yet who wasn't," Dean smirked, running his hands up her bare calves. When she lightly kneed him in the face, he nipped at the inside of her bare thigh. "I'm teasing, babe, she's a friend."
Torrie was only slightly mollified.
"Give me five?"
"You should probably put on clothes first."
It was nothing Abigail hadn't seen before.
"Oh Christ, Ambrose, get your ass upstairs and get some damn clothes on!"
Abigail slapped a hand over her eyes, scowling at his laughter, and couldn't believe he just sauntered down the stairs completely naked. If she would've heard what he called her to the blonde, Abigail would've hightailed it out of there as fast as she could. Five minutes later, Dean came back down, and she hesitantly took her hand away from her face to stare at him.
"You are a piece of work. Now come walk with me, I need to talk to you about some things that are going down…and I have a favor to ask you. We can go down to the park or see the ducks, if you want."
"Oh for fuck's sake, Abs," He tipped his head up, directing his next bellow at the upper window of the Shield building. "Torrie, going to be longer than five, babe!" Dean shouted, hearing her cursing him out, and just kept laughing. "All right, Abs, what's up?" He mumbled, a cigarette now dangling on his bottom lip while he fumbled for his lighter.
Dean had gotten with Torrie last night and fucked out his annoyance, it had worked. Great mood restored. Torrie leaned out the open window, wearing one of his shirts.
"You best be back before dark, Ambrose, you jackass!"
"No promises!" He turned around to blow her a kiss, smirking at the middle fingers he was flashed. "I think she's upset." He snickered, turning back to Abigail. "Ducks, let's go see the ducks."
As long as he was happy, that's all Abigail cared about when it came to Dean and it looked as though their friendship would be just fine. "She's pretty." She commented with a soft smile, walking with him down the street, much like the first time they met, but this time there was a dark cloud looming over them. "Taker and Malcolm talked and…they're going to work together to defeat Bray and the DOV, but…the way to break the spell is…tricky." They arrived at the ducks as Abigail sat down in the grass with Dean, staring out at the water. "Dean…Taker might…die in order to break the spell…" Her head lowered as fresh tears stung her eyes, hating how her heart began to crack down the middle all over again. "Malcolm too…it's highly dangerous and requires a blood sacrifice. They have to…basically, nearly all their blood has to be drained from their bodies in order to have enough for the spell. They're going to practice with a pig, drain the pig to see exactly how much it would take to coat…Bray. But they need someone around Bray's height and…muscular in order to do it. I know Bray is slightly stockier than you, but it'll still work. That's where you come in." She looked over at him now, seeing him puffing on his cigarette thoughtfully. "Would you be willing to let them douse you in pig's blood to see exactly how much blood is required to be drained?"
Dean really hoped Abigail didn't think Torrie was his, like in the way she was obviously Taker's because he didn't roll that way. He had not yet found a woman that held his interest longer than a few days, a week at the most, and Torrie was great in bed, but not overly bright. Dean needed mental stimulation on top of his dick being tickled. Other than the fact that first, Taker's magic was what protected Wonderful and its citizens and second, it made Abigail sad… Dean didn't see the downside here. Taker thought he was a hero, let him die like one. Though, there was a delicious irony in this, using magic when Taker was kind of a big bitch about magic.
"You want me to take a bath in pig's blood?" He eyed her, finally nodding and cracked a grin. "Sure, but only if you hose me off afterward." There was a tiny smile. "I'm sure he'll be fine, Abs."
"It doesn't matter how I feel about it because it's the only way to break the spell. It's the only way to kill Bray and destroy the DOV."
Abigail knew the next bit of news she gave him would NOT set well with Dean, but she refused to lie or keep something from him. It was bad enough she had to keep their little sexual rendezvous a secret from Mark. Technically, she and Mark were not together, they had just fooled around a few times, but now that the L-word came out, that had changed.
"There's something else I need to tell you…and you're not going to like it." At his arched brow, Abigail stood up from the grass and wrapped her arms around herself, looking out at the water again. "In order for this spell to be broken, Bray has to be in close proximity. He has to be doused in blood, enough to cover most of him, and…the only way to do that is…me. I told Taker to use me as bait to lure Bray out since he's obsessed with me and thinks of me as his Queen. They're going to make it look like I've been tortured…or beaten up, and…string me up to make him believe they're going to kill me if he doesn't come for me. Once he's close enough, the spell can be broken, if it's done right."
