It's been a boring week. Nothing to report here.

Except for I'm posting this very late, due to the fact that I ended up spending all afternoon reading a fanfic instead of writing my own. I couldn't help myself; it was so good.

So, if you're a Harry Potter fan, the story was Harry Potter on the Phoenix's Flight, by The Velvet Ghost. It's a creative plot, taking place during Harry's 6th year (and she has a sequel dealing with the 7th year). You can find a link on my favorite's if you're interested. Anyway, continue.

Disclaimer: It's simple, really. I don't own Lord of the Rings.

Chapter 43 Recap:

"So what exactly is your question, lady Abigail?" he said, positively gleeful at her rage.

"WHY DID YOU BRING ME TO MIDDLE EARTH?" she screamed at him.

There was a sudden burst of energy that traveled through the room. Tables and chairs fell over while some vases and windows cracked.

The wind soon died down, but Abigail still stood shaking with fury, chest heaving.

Saruman clapped his hands together joyfully.

"You finally figured out that it was me…excellent."

Chapter 44:

Abigail remained still, a bit dumbfounded.

"E-excellent?" she stuttered, her breath shaking. "What do you mean by excellent?"

"It amuses me that you know, to put it more simply," Saruman replied casually. "It saves me the trouble of explaining-"

"You still have a HELL of a lot of explaining to do," Abigail interrupted, her anger never faltering.

"Well, we're not going to get anywhere if you keep cutting me off," he said cheekily.

This is not the Saruman Abby had pictured at all. There was no wrath or fury or despise. What happened to those dark eyes and menacing tones? He was acting like a snotty know-it-all, which made her dislike him more.

"What happened to you?" she voiced her thoughts.

His eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "It's not a pleasant feeling having your magic taken away from you, especially when your profession is to be a wizard. My threats are meaningless, my power has been stripped and I've been severely demoted thanks to dear, old Gandalf." Saruman spitted out that last name.

"However," he continued, "I still have the simple pleasure of holding power over you. Why do you think I didn't reveal your secrets to your little fellowship friends? It's because I was waiting for you to come back here, begging me for the truth. As you stated earlier, you have questions and I have some answers. Now, whether I tell you anything depends on if you are a good girl or-"

She threw him against the wall with her mind, again not letting him finish his sentence.

"Think again about who has power Saruman." It was her turn to threaten.

He just laughed. "Are you going to kill me, Abigail? I thought it would be too soon for that. Then again, if you already killed your father, then I suppose I would be no problem."

"Shut up!" she yelled, pushing him harder into the wall. "You have no right."

"But don't I?" he countered. "Since it was I who brought you into this world, is it my problem?"

She released her grip and brought him back to the floor. He hit the stone and coughed a few times, trying to catch his breath. Maybe she had a tighter hold on his throat than she meant to.

"So…you are admitting it?" she asked simply.

"Yes, I brought you to Middle Earth." Saruman stood up slowly and leaned against the wall for support. "And next you will want to know why?" he said, now in a bored tone.

She was about ready to smack him into the wall again, but instead she took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves.

"It would be very kind of you to tell me why," she said with mock politeness, her teeth gritting together.

He raised an eyebrow at the sarcasm, but spoke anyway.

"Very well. In honesty, since I am in out of Lord Sauron's favor, it will not do much harm."

Abigail just sort of blinked for a few seconds, not knowing how to respond. Was it really going to be that simple? Suddenly she was going to know the truth about her purpose? She continued to eye Saruman cautiously, but waited for him to continue.

"10 years ago, more or less, when I joined forces with the dark lord Sauron, I was able to amplify my powers in a way that no one in Middle Earth could imagine."

"Hold on one moment," Abigail couldn't ignore what he just said. "You have been betraying the council for 10 years?"

He smirked. "I know. The simpletons have so much faith in those they label 'white wizards'. I fooled them all for a decade without any suspicions."

"That's because those with the honor of being called 'white' are suppose to be good!"

"It is not my fault the people are poor judges of character. I was wise and powerful; no one could deny that. But what they did not realized was that I desired more power and wisdom. I was destined for greatness, and being a simple wizard of upholding the peace and making discoveries was getting me nowhere."

Abigail's temper was flaring again, but she knew she needed to hear this. It wasn't only something she needed to know, but Gandalf should as well. So though the selfish bastard sickened her, Abby let him go on.

"As I was saying, lord Sauron gave me that power" Saruman started to pace around the circular tower, Abigail's gaze following him every step.

"But I decided to focus that power on one area, my gift of sight. The palantir, I'm sure you've heard of it, had always allowed me access to anywhere in Middle Earth. But with my new ability's, I could see whole new worlds and dimensions!" he said excitedly.

"And through that little glass ball you found me?" said Abigail.

"Don't be so vain, my dear, it was not always about you. I was simply intrigued by the name of your planet 'Earth'. I wondered if it was similar to our own, but I was gravely disappointed. I soon saw the waste and destruction your race caused for no reason. I admit, your technology was fascinating, though I could not understand it. But you mortals were useless with your knowledge. It did not seem you could do anything properly. You fought mindless battles and your society was atrocious. How women were allowed to rank so high on your planet I will never know," he shook his head.

"And what you're doing is any better? Slaughtering innocents and ruining land, and for what? Total domination? I find that pathetic," Abigail snapped back.

"We are serving a necessary purpose. The dark lord finds others incapable of ruling Middle Earth properly. This is for the best," Saruman said.

"Some of the worst things are done with the best intentions," she recited, more to herself than to him.

"Depends on whose side you are on," he smirked. "At any rate, about 8 years ago, I was scanning through the Palantir and picked up an unusual power coming from earth. Just it time to, for I was on the verge of abandoning the planet. I took a closer look, and saw a young girl, somehow blasting rocks into trees without moving a finger."

Abigail grimaced, remembering that day clearly. It was one of the first times she had used her power so excessively. That afternoon, her father hadn't come to her first school play and then he proceeded to not pick her up. She had to walk home on a cold fall day. She had needed a way to vent her anger, without causing a scene, so she went into the forest and, erm, used the trees for target practice.

"I was so pleased to have found something interesting for once," Saruman went on, taking a seat in his marble carved chair. "I began to watch you more closely and I dreamed about the true power and potential you could have. I brought up the subject of taking you to Middle Earth to lord Sauron, but he disdained the idea. He did not trust what I saw, he despised mortals and overall he thought it would make him look weak to bring in help from other worlds."

Saruman sighed, and leaned lazily on his arm. Abigail stared into space, digesting all this new information.

"But, if Sauron forbid you from doing so, why am I here?" she said, her eyes scrunched in confusion.

"You were not joking when you said you had many questions," Saruman muttered impatiently.

"Just get to the point and I'll stop," she retorted.

He rubbed his temples, but still went on.

"Fine, fine. It was still the early years of our alliance and I was foolish. Some part of me believe he would accept the idea if he could actually see you. So for the next year, I secretly plotted on how I could bring you to Middle Earth. To sum it all up, with countless days of research and my growing power, I was able to find a way to make a portal between worlds. And I thought it was fitting for my faithful Crebain to be the ones to fetch you."

The wizard paused suddenly, and his lips curved into a frown. "But something went wrong…" he trailed off, clearly upset by the mere thought of this.

He continued to look in deep concentration, until and exasperated Abigail finally said, "What?"

He wouldn't look her in the eye.

"Sauron discovered my plan…and let us say he was not very pleased. I still have the scars," he said the last part so lowly that Abigail barely heard him. "I learned my lesson, and never disobeyed the dark lord again. But I had already done the spell and made the portal. The Crebain were already on their way to get you and I did not know how to reverse it. Sauron, still not wanting to take the chance, sent his Nazgûl to kill you."

Abigail could recall the wraith's words, and not they made sense.

"You are too much of a risk," he hissed. "My master thinks you are not ready. A power you might have, but powerful you are not. You are a nuisance who doesn't belong."

Then Abigail remembered the rest of that day.

"Haldir and Arphenon," she smiled lightly. "That was the other problem, the elves were not supposed to be there and save me. Though that was really your fault. I mean, it is kind of you stupid to put me right next to an elvish sanctuary-"

"Silence, you idiotic girl!" Saruman yelled.

The force in his voice was actually quite terrifying, so for now Abigail listened.

"Do you think I would have dropped you in the 'golden wood' on purpose? The elves were not the mistake, Lorien was! The portal was meant to bring you straight to Isengard!" he shouted with frustration, leaning farther out of his chair.

Both were silent for a moment. Abigail remained stiff, still surprised at his sudden outrage. Saruman looked very annoyed, but it also seemed he was trying to calm down. He was the one to speak first.

"Tell me do…do you remember anything while you were in the rift of the portal?"

"Well, no" she said bluntly. "But I would not tell you if I did."

Out of her own curiosity, though, she tried to remember. She could see herself falling out of the tree in Earth, and then waking up in the woods of Lorien. The in-between trip was a blurry spot. Abby racked her brain but come up with nothing.

"Hmm, disappointing," he combed a hand through his long beard. "Anyway, something or someone interrupted my spell and either caused the portal to end early or they changed the destination."

And with that he crossed his arms and leaned back into his hard chair with a satisfied expression.

She waited for him to say something else, but Saruman just sat there.

"So, that's it?" she said, putting all the pieces together. "I'm some sort of misunderstanding?"

"I do apologize if you were expecting something grander," he replied sarcastically. "Of course, things would be different if I had been able to keep you, or if we had realized you'd been alive for the past, what is it now, 7 years? I guess it was my mistake believing that the Nazgûl cut would have killed you, but no matter. You are here now."

"You're right, it doesn't matter because I am not on 'the dark side' or whatever you want to call it here. I am doing what I can to stop Sauron, not join him. I really appreciate you telling me the truth, but nothing is different. You said so yourself that Sauron wasn't interested in me," she finished smugly.

"Do you think I would have bothered trying to capture you if he wasn't interested?" he replied quickly and just as smugly.

Abigail, who was just about to leave, froze and went over what Saruman just said.

"What do you mean?" she asked nervously.

"Think about it. The Nazgûl and I would not have given you a second thought unless the dark lord was interested. After we found out that you were still alive, I begged my lord to reconsider. If you are already here and have your power, why shouldn't you still be of use?"

Abigail looked at him wide-eyed. "S-so Sauron is after me? Why would you tell me this?"

Saruman gave a dark cackle and started to walk towards her.

"I told you, girl. I am defeated and spent. Giving you this knowledge does not affect me in any way. It only harms you and the fact that you are putting your friends in more danger. But truly, they were always in danger because your power is so unpredictable. What you did to those orcs at Helms Deep was pretty vicious."

He was mere feet away from her now.

"What orcs, what are you talking about?" she yelled, her voice cracking.

"All that power, and you still let your friends and family die," he said, ignoring her last comment

Abigail was rooted to the floor, even though Saruman was right alongside her.

"I'm so proud of you," he whispered into her ear.

"Stop it!" she screamed, snapping back to reality. She scrambled away from him and ran for the exit.

He continued to laugh maniacally and she could still hear it ringing through the closed doors as she stumbled outside.

OoOoOoOoOo

Abigail ran out a bit too fast, and fell backwards into the water that covered Isengard. She never took her eyes of the Orthanc as she slowly stood up with her skirt dripping.

"I thought having the answers was going to make things easier," she muttered, shaking head. "I am so bad at this."

Faintly, she could hear people calling her name.

'A search party already?' she thought, puzzled. Then realization hit. 'Gah! The time change, I completely forgot. I could have been gone half the night without knowing it!'

She heard and saw some dim figures trudging through the water, coming her way.

"Um, hello?" she offered.

"Lady Abigail? Where in the world did you wander off to?" asked as voice she recognized as Sir Namian. "Gandalf, she's over here!" he called out next.

Even at night, Abby clearly saw Gandalf's white robes.

"By the Valar, Abigail, we've been looking for you for 30 minutes now," Gandalf lectured.

'30 minutes, eh? Then I've only been gone an hour at most. Not too bad,' she thought.

"Yea, we were really worried," said a small voice behind Gandalf. Merry and Pippin popped into view.

"Sorry boys. I, um, went for a walk to clear my head a bit, and I climbed into a tree and…accidentally fell asleep," she gulped, hoping that sounded somewhat convincing.

Gandalf seemed skeptical, but the other three took the reply and shrugged.

"Aye, you think you would of heard us yelling about," Namian chuckled slightly.

"I'm a heavy sleeper sometimes," she half-smiled.

"And did you sleep-walk into the tower?" Gandalf questioned sharply, obviously not believing her.

"Uh, I guess I wandered a bit too far," she said sheepishly, scratching her head and staring at the ground.

Gandalf sighed. "Namian, please take Merry and Pippin back to the camp and tell the others we found her."

"Yes sir," Namian nodded. "C'mon lads, I think somebody's in trouble," he said in a singsong voice. Abigail glared at him, but doubted he could tell.

"Be nice Gandalf, it's cold and she's soaked bottom down," pleaded Pippin.

"Leave us be, Peregrin Took," Gandalf ordered in a 'no-nonsense' tone.

Pippin jumped a little, and quickly left with Merry.

Gandalf turned back to Abby, and his expression softened. "I believe you and I need to have a little talk, Abigail."

He waved his arm out, gesturing for her to follow him.

She groaned inwardly, but started to walk in-step with Gandalf.

'Done with one wizard, on to the next,' she mused lamely, doing her best to wring out her wet cloak and skirt.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Kind of an odd place to end this, but the little 'chat with Saruman' went longer than expected. And I really need to post this and get to sleep.

Thanks to Reviewers:

LadyEruaphadriel-orderofthe...: Very nice to hear you enjoyed the chappie and I hope this puts you out of your misery, at least somewhat. Thanks!

ephona: Welcome to the review corner, glad to have you with us! I know, cliffies are evil, but if it gets you guys to review…lol, thanks!

writin4fun15: Yeah, I just love to keep you readers in suspense. Just hang in there! And I think my writer's block is better. Then again, if this chapter stinks then maybe it's still here. Jk, thank you!

White Blossom of Gondor: It might ruin the plot a little if Aragorn gets killed by an 'evil wizard dude' during a rescue, so I think I'll keep him away from the tower. Lol, it's too bad that drinking scene with Legolas didn't make the theatres. Oh well, that's why we have Extended Edition's! Thanks for reviewing!

ArwenEvenstar83: Well, as you can see Merry and Pippin weren't really mad or anything, but I might come back to that later. And yes, in the book the group actually goes inside the tower. Anyway, Saruman is kind of a hard character to write because in the book he's really complicated, but in the movie we don't see the evil side of him that much. I'm glad you think I did well! Thank you!

Narnian Sprite: I'll be honest, I really don't care for Grima that much as a character, and he's not really important to this particular plot, so I'm not sure if we'll see him ever. Sorry if that bothers you. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

KeeperMusicNight: As a stated above (in another review), I find Saruman to be a tricky character, so I'm glad if you like my version of him (whether it's accurate or not). As far as the time difference thing goes, it just sort of came into my head to add some mysterious atmosphere, but I'll explain it, in a way, next chapter.

Samantha-Girl Scout: Yahoo! I'm #1 (take that White Roses!). Jk, but I would be thrilled if you put me in such high rankings. I am still unsure of the exact definition of a Mary-Sue, but I know lots of people tend to not like them, so I do my best to avoid them. Either way around, though, I just like to write. Thanks!

I know I said we might see some Arwen or Frodo action this chapter, but my outline ended up being a little different, so hopefully I'll be adding them next chapter.

Also, I know this chapter was kind of wordy, but it was just one of those overdue, needed, explanation chapters.

Until next time!

-MysticNight9