"ABE!" Hellboy shouts from his crate, startling Abe out of his reverie.
Yes, Hellboy, what is it? Abe asks silently, only partially aware of the swaying of the box he's in.
"Could you please stop making that god awful noise?" Hellboy yells back.
What noise? Abe questions, confused.
"That noise that sets my teeth on edge," Hellboy snarls back. "Could you just please stop it?"
I'm sorry; I didn't realize I was making any sounds, Abe replies, still baffled.
"Didn't realize…?" Hellboy sputters in disbelief. "Are you telling me that you didn't notice that weird noise you were making?"
No, Abe answers, stunned.
"You've been making it since the truck started moving about half an hour ago," Hellboy snarls.
How odd, Abe muses. Why didn't you tell me sooner?
"What do you mean, 'why didn't I tell you sooner'?" Hellboy demands loudly. "I've been shouting at you for the past half hour!"
Oh dear, Abe responds, chagrinned. My apologies. I'll try and keep any noises I make to a minimum.
"Good," Hellboy grumbles settling down to reading his comic book.
The revelation that he's making a sound loud enough to bother Hellboy over the noise of the truck's diesel engine and the traffic of the surrounding roadway has him very confused. He spends some time trying to remember making this sound, but he can find no memory of it. After a few minutes pondering this, his mind wanders back Maggie and the twins, wondering what they're doing right now and missing them even more. He wonders when he'll feel the touch of his wife again.
"ABE!" comes Hellboy's frustrated scream.
Oh dear, I was doing it again, wasn't I? Abe asks, apologetically.
"Yesss," Hellboy hisses through gritted teeth.
Have I made this noise before? Abe asks. Before today I mean.
"Yeah, when you came back from your honeymoon," Hellboy answers, still miffed. "You went on for nearly three days straight and you didn't stop until we went and dragged Maggie back to the bureau. To bad Liz destroyed all of the security tapes. Would have loved to have seen what happened after we dropped her off. And then you did it this morning just before you came downstairs."
Remind me to thank Liz later, Abe replies, a little less than amused and a whole lot embarrassed over that memory. Though that does explain why Guillermo said I was keening this morning. It is odd that I don't even hear myself making a noise that bothers you even above the noise of the traffic outside.
"It's not so much hearing it, but feeling it as well," Hellboy responds. "I can feel it in my bones and it sets my teeth on edge."
I do apologize, Red, I will try not to do it again, Abe assures his friend.
"Fine," Hellboy grumbles as he tries to settle back down to his book.
Abe thinks long and hard about what was going through his mind after his return from his honeymoon. He remembers the pain of being alone, knowing that Maggie wasn't willing to come back with him. He remembers the absolute despair of having a wife who was pregnant with his children and not being sure when he would get to touch her again. The need to feel her warms skin against his starts to fill him.
Before he totally drops into a blue funk, he feels a strange vibration resonating through his chest that starts to travel through his body. He lets the vibration continue until it reaches an audible level. As the vibration grows stronger, so does the sound.
"ABE!" Hellboy yells from the next crate.
Sorry, Abe responds. Curious. I've never noticed it before now. It starts out as a vibration and works itself into an actually audible sound. I'll have to investigate this further.
"You can investigate it until your scales fall off," Hellboy growls. "But just wait until you get home and we can lock you in a soundproof room."
I understand, Abe chuckles. Now that I'm aware of it, I should be able to stop myself before it before it becomes audible.
"You better," Hellboy snarls before falling silent.
Abe starts thinking of the things he's going to need to do once he gets home. By the time they're back on the cargo plane and in the air, Abe has his mental list organized and ready to go. He writes down the items that he'll need and gives it to John, requesting that the agent call ahead to get these items ready for the merman.
When that task is accomplished, the events of the last twenty-four hours finally catch up to him and he realizes how exhausted he is. With instructions not to be disturbed until just before landing unless it's an emergency or Maggie is calling, he strips down to his shorts and then slides into his tank. At the feeling of water that's the perfect salinity and temperature, something he hasn't experienced in several months, he immediately relaxes and within moments is sound asleep.
Maggie is propped up in bed reading with the twins nestled in on either side of her. She's clean and dressed and trying to ignore the empty feeling in her soul that she's had since she heard the truck with Abe pull out this morning.
With a sigh, she puts down the magazine she was reading. She's read the article about five times now and she still has no idea what it says. With him gone, she just can't concentrate and she contemplates taking another nap, but that idea just doesn't hold much appeal to her, besides, she's not really tired. She'd like to be able to do something to keep busy and try and take her mind off of him being gone, but she can barely walk to the bathroom as it is.
"Hey," Peg calls softly from the doorway. "Want some company?"
"I would love some company," Maggie smiles as Peg comes into the room and sits on the edge of the bed.
"We all know how you feel, Maggie," Peg assures her. "It's like a part of yourself is missing when he's gone."
"Yeah, I wish there was something I could do to get my mind off of him," Maggie replies sadly. "Instead I'm sitting here being bored out of my skull. I didn't like it when I was pregnant, but now it's really driving me buggy. So how's everything going downstairs?"
"Everything's fine," Peg smiles. "Your father is watching golf on TV. You should have seen your parents when they got a good look at the flat screen. They wanted to know where the rest of the TV was."
Maggie laughs at this, causing the twins to stir a little. But after a little squirming, they settle back down.
"Your mother is trying to figure out the laptop," Peg chuckles. "Unfortunately, she found the solitaire game and now we can't get her away from the thing. I'm dreading showing her the internet."
Before she can say anything, Maggie hears the front doorbell ring. She does a quick 'check' and a slight frown crosses her brow.
"Steven is here," Maggie announces. "I thought he was going back home to be there when Sean's wife goes into labor."
"Tracy isn't due for a few more days yet," Peg states. "I've noticed with the exception of you and me, every first baby is born exactly nine months after the wedding day."
"Another quirky little thing that Mages have to deal with," Maggie replies. "But at least it's better than the waiting a year and a day thing. And those dreams. I'd like to get my hands on the being that came up with that one. Just about drove Abe and me off the deep end."
"I know what you mean," Peg nods. "When Simon and I were apart, we just about went nuts. And when we saw each other again…well, let's just say we were really happy to see on another."
"Abe and I had more of those reunions than I can count," Maggie grumbles. "And every time anything interesting started to happen, we'd get interrupted. I'm surprised I didn't die of embarrassment before the wedding."
"Yes, well, back in my day a proper young lady didn't even try that sort of thing before marriage," Peg points out. "To bad I wasn't a proper young lady or it would have made life so much easier."
Both of the women laugh at this as Steven sticks his head in the room.
"You two sound like you're having way too much fun up here," Steven teases from the doorway, a tool kit in hand.
"Hi, Steven," Maggie greets, still grinning. "What are you doing here?"
"I heard someone had a disagreement with her bedroom door this morning and I've come to install a new one," Steven answers.
"You drove over three hours to install a bedroom door?" Maggie asks incredulously.
"Yup," Steven replies. "So, should I get started or do you want me to wait?"
"You can go ahead and get started," Maggie answers. "I'm not going anywhere."
"Yeah, I heard about the feet, too" Steven responds. "Listen, you can tell me all about it after I get that door up here. I'll be back in a few minutes."
With that Steven puts the tool kit down, turns and leaves as Peg stands up.
"I should go get dinner started," Peg states. "I like Susan a lot, but I just don't trust her in the kitchen."
"Grandmother has always been very proud of the fact that she can't boil water," Maggie replies. "When I moved out on my own, I could barely manage that. As it is, Martha Stewart doesn't lie awake at night worrying about me taking over her job."
"Good thing you've got Abe to cook for you now," Peg smiles and instantly regrets it.
Maggie's shoulders slump and her eyes become bright with unshed tears as she turns to look out the window with the hope that she'll hear the sound of a large diesel engine pulling up the drive.
"I'm sorry, Maggie," Peg apologizes. "I shouldn't have said that. I'll go make dinner now."
A cold wave of sadness overcomes Maggie once more and the silent tears fall. Several minutes later she's finally able to pull herself back together. With a final sniff she turns away from the window and finds Steven starting to put in her new door.
"So, what do you want to know about this morning?" she asks, her nose still stuffed up after her latest bout of depression.
"Were you really going to kill Manning?" he questions, not looking up from unscrewing the old hinge from the door frame.
"Yes," she snarls. "The miserable lowlife was trying to steal my babies. I was going to kill him like the vermin he is."
"Bit extreme don't you think?" he inquires, never taking his eyes off of his work.
"This isn't the first time he's treated the twins like they were property," she growls. "You know that."
"I know," he quietly replies as he wrangles the new door into position. "The question is would you have been able to live with yourself after the anger faded? Granted he was trying to take your children and he definitely deserves a lifetime supply of hemorrhoids for it, but you know he wouldn't hurt them. In fact, your husband was going to be with them so you know they'd be looked after by someone who loves them."
"But I'm still nursing…," she starts to argue.
"Pretty poor reason to kill a man," he points out as he starts to screw the door to the frame.
"You didn't come up here just to install my door did you?" she softly asks about a minute later.
"No, I didn't," he answers. "I came up here because of Michael."
"Which Michael?" she inquires, remembering the three Michaels she's related to.
"You haven't met him," he replies as he finishes installing the door. "Michael is a cousin of mine or was. We're not sure which, but at this point we're thinking was."
"I don't understand," she states in obvious confusion.
"No, I guess you wouldn't," he responds sadly as he sits on the foot of her bed. "Many years ago, on a warm summer's night, not long after you were born, my cousin, Michael, got into a fight with another man. No one quite knows what the fight was about, but we do know one thing for sure, that night a man died. Witnesses say that the man pulled a knife on Michael just before he collapsed. The coroner's report says he died of a heart attack, but we know different. Michael came home after the fight, packed his things and drove away. His car was found several days later, abandoned on the side of the road. We never heard from him again. We've hired private investigators, posted rewards, put ads in newspapers, even done the TV route and still we have no clue to what happened to him. We may never know what became of him, but we do know this: killing that other man did something to Michael that made him give up everything and everyone he knew and loved. I don't want to see that happen to you too."
"Was he married?" she asks quietly.
"Fortunately and unfortunately, no," he answers and at her quizzical look, he continues. "It's fortunate that he didn't leave a wife and child behind to grieve and wonder with the rest of us. It's unfortunate that he wasn't married since she would know if he's dead or alive. The worst part is that we don't know, and we may never know, what happened to him."
They sit in silence for some time as she absorbs this bit of family history. She never once thought of the consequences of killing Manning. And while at the time she felt she was protecting her children, she now realizes how wrong killing him would have been.
"Now why all the long faces?" Susan asks as she walks in with a dinner tray for Maggie. "You'd think someone had died."
"Nearly," Maggie mumbles as she sits up in bed.
"Nearly?" Susan asks, raising an eyebrow.
"We were talking about this morning," Maggie explains.
"Ah, yes," Susan nods as she sets the tray down in front of Maggie. "Dr. Manning and his need to prove what a fool he is. Really, you would have thought the man had more than two brain cells to rub together."
"He does strike me as rather pompous," Steven chuckles as he pats Maggie's leg. "Well, my dear, I'll leave you to your dinner."
"Thanks, Steven," Maggie says while he stands. "For everything."
"You're welcome," he replies, looking at her solemnly.
After he leaves, Maggie starts to work on her dinner. Susan stays behind for a while, staring at her granddaughter.
"Why do I have a feeling that you two were talking about more than what happened this morning," Susan muses, a perfectly penciled eyebrow raised again.
"Steven was telling me a little Steele family history," Maggie responds after she swallows.
"I see," Susan replies, but questioning no further. "Do you want me to put the twins in the crib?"
"No, thank you," Maggie replies. "They'll probably wake soon to eat. They always seem to know when I'm eating."
"All babies are that way, child," Susan chuckles, heading for the door. "It's been that way since the dawn of time. I'll be back in a while. Holler if you need anything."
"I will," Maggie responds as she loads her fork up with more food. "Thank you, Grandmother."
"You're welcome," Susan calls back over her shoulder as she exits the room.
Maggie gets about half way through her dinner before Morgan wakes up. With a resigned sigh, Maggie puts her dinner off the side and then starts to feed her daughter. Just after Morgan has been changed and is being put to bed, Dylan wakes wanting his share. As he is getting fed, Peg walks in with the cordless phone in her hand.
"It's Abe," Peg tells Maggie.
Maggie's hand shoots out and all but rips the phone from her grandmother's hand. Peg just chuckles and leaves the room, quietly closing the door behind her.
"Abe?" she queries, her heart pounding in her chest.
"Hello, my love," he purrs.
"God, it's good to hear your voice," she practically sobs. "I've missed you."
"I only left this morning," he reminds her, chuckling.
"It feels like a lifetime ago," she replies sadly.
"Keeping busy could help you take your mind off of things," he replies.
"What am I supposed to do since I can barely walk right now?" she asks, wincing as Dylan pulls off without breaking suction first.
"Ah, yes, your feet," he responds. "It's best to stay off those for a while."
"That's what I've been doing," she gripes as she quickly changes Dylan's diaper on the bed.
"You could try reading," he suggests.
"Been there, done that, couldn't concentrate," she responds while changing Dylan into his pajamas.
"Perhaps working on your laptop," he proposes. "I know you have a lot of email you haven't responded to yet.
"Peg decided to show Mom how to use my computer and now she's hooked on solitaire," she states as she starts to struggle her way off of the bed with a sleeping baby in her arms. "I haven't seen my laptop all afternoon. I'm going to have to get myself a new one I suppose."
"How are your parents?" he asks.
"They're pretty worn out," she answers, trying not to whimper as she makes her way to the crib. "All the activities from yesterday wiped them out. It's really hard to see them like this."
"What do you mean?" he inquires.
"When I was nine, they could do anything," she replies as she settles her son next to his sister and then heads back to the bed. "They seemed to have endless energy and nothing could stop them when they put their minds to something. It was like they could take on the world and win. But now…now they're so different. They're obviously older and that I pretty much expected, but they're so frail. I'm afraid that if I sneeze in their general direction that they'll break. And they get tired so easy. Grandmother is in her seventies and she has more energy then the two of them combined. And quite frankly, Abe, it scares me."
"I don't know what to tell you, love. I don't even remember my parents. I don't know what it must be like for you," he responds sadly just before his voice drops into a sexy purr. "But the sooner you come home, the sooner I can find out."
"Letch," she giggles back at him. "I'll be home soon. I'm not sure how sane I'll be, but I'll be there soon. If I don't get out and do something soon I swear I'm going to pop."
"You'll be fine, my love," he assures her.
"Yeah, right," she grumbles as she starts picking at her cold dinner. "How would you know? You're mister calm, cool and collected."
"Not always," he tells her. "It seems I make a rather interesting sound when I'm missing you. Guillermo calls it keening, and Hellboy calls it…well, let's just say that your grandmother would need an extra large bar of soap for his mouth if she heard him."
"Is that so?" she chuckles as she makes herself more comfortable on the bed. "And what are you missing about me that you make this 'keening' sound."
"I think about your touch," he answers softly. "How it feels to make love to you and how I'm not sure I'll feel your warm body next to mine again."
A sound carries over the phone that causes a shiver to run down her back, goose bumps to form, her nipples to get hard and a powerful heat start to burn between her legs.
"Oh, god, Abe, please stop," she begs as she can feel her heart start to race.
"I'm sorry, love," he apologizes as the sound stops.
"Please don't do that again," she gasps while she tries to regain something that looks like composure.
"I know how annoying that must be for you," he replies.
"Do you now?" she pants.
"Yes, Hellboy said it sets his teeth on edge when I do that," he states. "Guillermo, John and Liz all find it rather upsetting as well."
"I'm sorry, I think I took a wrong turn in this conversation somewhere," she replies in confusion. "Are you saying that Hellboy and the others don't like that sound?"
"Of course," he responds. "Do you like the sound I just made?"
"Let me put it this way," she growls as she tries to calm her body down. "If you had made that sound standing next to me, we wouldn't be having this conversation since I'd be too busy stripping you and then jumping you."
"Very curious," he murmurs. "The others are bothered by the sound and you're aroused by it. Very curious indeed. I'll have to look into this further."
"I'm glad was able to give you something to do," she replies testily. "It's not like your all hot and bothered or anything."
"Honey, if you had any idea how aroused I am right now, your socks would catch on fire," he sexily growls back at her which doesn't help her situation.
Instead of the laugh he was going for all he hears is a whimpering moan coming through the line. It doesn't help that his shorts are unbearably tight at the moment and they seem to be getting smaller by the second. Knowing that he's sitting in the bureau's library and she's sitting in her room on the other side of the country isn't assisting his problem either. He looks around for something to change the subject when his eyes land on the stack of sex books that had ordered online and he gets an idea.
"Call me back later," he requests.
"Excuse me?" she whimpers.
"Call me back after everyone has gone to sleep," he says. "And call me at the house number, not the bureau's."
"Why?" she asks, sounding a bit more normal.
"It's a surprise," he teases. "Just do it, please."
"Ok," she replies uncertainly. "I'll call you if I'm still awake myself."
"I'll be waiting for your call," he reminds her. "Besides, I think the curiosity will keep you up long enough to call me."
"Ok, ok, I'll call," she grumbles. "You better make this worth my while."
"I will," he promises. "Trust me, my love, I most certainly will."
Still mystified by his request, she says her goodbyes to him and hangs up. Several hours later, the curiosity has kept her awake after everyone is sound asleep. After 'checking' that everyone's heart rates and breathing has slowed, she puts in the call.
Author's notes: Sorry this took so long. Life has been crazy with the holidays and my oldest turning 6 the other week. And with Christmas around the corner, just be glad you got this chapter when you did. I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up, but it should be…interesting.