Eternally Grateful

Katy glanced up from her computer when the door to their apartment opened. Christian slid in and threw his book bag down on the floor. "Honey, I'm home!"

"Awesome. Make supper."

"What?!"

"I'm trying to finish up homework. Please?"

The blonde's square chin swiveled from side to side for a moment with his green eyes narrowed. "All right. But this is happening." He started to undo his belt.

She watched. "No…"

"Yep!" He kicked off his big sneakers and dropped his pants to his ankles and stepped out of them and raised both arms above his head and walked by her into the kitchen in his gray boxer briefs. "Deal with it."

She sighed and kept her eyes on her computer screen as her weapon hummed to himself while removing contents from the fridge and freezer. "How was class?"

"Not horrible actually. I think I'll be good to go on the next exam. You?"

"Same. Just trying to finish this stuff up tonight before our session with Stein, Soul and Marie."

Christian put some water on the stove to boil. "Are you stoked?"

"I don't know what to be. I don't know what's going to happen." Katy put a finger in one of her spiral curls and twisted it tightly.

He set the oven to preheat. "Yeah, I wonder what kind of training you do for, uh…being besties with all your buds." He spun around and stepped towards her around the counter. "Maybe we'll all sit in a circle and sing and play Wonderwall on the guitar."

"It's an odd mix, isn't it? Death Scythe, Stein and sweet Miss Marie? I don't have any idea what to expect. Maybe it's some kind of… aura therapy or something."

"Or maybe Stein will just do brain surgery on all of us until we're the same people." He shrugged.

"Stop! Don't say that, that's—…a plausible theory." She looked up at him. "But he wouldn't want to make us the same people. That's why Lord Death chose us, because we're different people but we work well together."

"We haven't teamed up a whole lot though. I mean, the times we have teamed up went pretty well but don't you feel like Jolly Roger is placing a heck of a lot of faith in us for our experience?"

"Of course I do. I'm terrified," Katy said evenly as she went back to typing. "But I trust his judgment… And we have a lot of experienced people on our team. Tim and Nikki are lethal now. Rachele and Kian are nearly unstoppable when they resonate with Poltergeist. And Odette and William have never lost a fight since they've been partners. And you. You've nearly been a Death Scythe three times over."

"And you too. You're good." He kept his eyes on her.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"Wrong answer." He went to her and sat on the couch next to her. "Say, 'Yes, I am.'"

She gave a small smile but didn't look away from her computer screen. "Yes, I am."

"Like you mean it. Come on." He elbowed her.

Katy inhaled and spoke a little louder. "Yes, I am."

"That's right. You are." He smiled at her now but it didn't last long. "… Listen, I know you're scared. But look at it this way. When we're in the East, you will have the seven of us looking out for you all the time. Okay?" Christian put his hand on her shoulder and gave a friendly squeeze.

"I know. I just don't want to disappoint anyone on such a…prestigious opportunity."

"You won't. You're going to do your best and no one is going to be disappointed with your best."

She looked at him tenderly. "Thank you, Christian."

"No problem. Just relax! Chill out; revel in the moment of being the top pick! Okay?"

Katy nodded vacantly before blurting, "I'm sorry, I can't take you seriously until you put on some pants."

He sighed loudly and went to his room to get pajama bottoms.

"Thank you!" she called kindly to him.

Christian and Katy left their apartment and met their friends out in the hall to head to their first session. After walking a little ways, they stopped when Miss Marie met them coming from her own office. "Hi, guys!" she chimed sweetly with a quaint smile.

"Hello, Miss Marie. You're looking fabulous today," Christian charmed.

She giggled and blushed. "Why thank you! I'm thinking about cutting my hair," she ran her fingers through her blond locks if not a little self-consciously.

"Go for it! Though I like it the way it is," Rachele said with a smile.

"I'll think about it, thank you." Her sugary cheeks balled up under her eyes. She turned her head a little and donned a smile they hadn't seen yet. "Hello, William!"

He lifted his chin and his voice came out as if he hadn't quite prepared the breath for it. "Hey."

She approached in her high-heeled boots with open arms. "How are you, honey?"

Kian's eyes went wide as he watched Miss Marie give him a soft hug that William awkwardly returned with one arm. "Fine," he replied, "How are you?"

"Oh, you know. Just getting along!" she sang in a jolly tone, stepping back to look up at him. "I'm so excited to be working with all of you! Shall we go on together?"

"Sure," Nikki followed with her friends, though exchanging looks with all of them but William.

Christian leaned towards Odette as they walked and talked quietly, "So, how long has Big Willy had a thing for Dr. Stein's woman?"

Odette took a breath and whispered, "It's—not that kind of thing."

"I wouldn't be so sure."

"Trust me. It's not that kind of thing. He just has a lot of respect for her." The redhead made sure that no one else was able to hear them before she lowered her voice and elaborated. "When Lord Death came back after…essentially kidnapping William from Kishin Carvalho…she did a lot for him. A lot that nobody else would have done for him at the time and…he's eternally grateful." Odette looked ahead at the back of her partner's head. "And so am I."

The big metal door's lock clanged loudly, echoing off the gray brick walls around him. William winced, a hand tightly molded to his skull. The door swung open with a piercing squeak of the hinges and he clutched the pillow tight under his chin. Trembling, he forced an eye open through his blinding migraine to see two shadows in the doorway. One of them came forward and he found it to be a woman carrying a tray of food and a bottle of water. The other shadow remained in the doorway. The woman sat on the edge of his bed. The light filtering in from the hallway shone on her wavy blond hair. A sweet feminine voice spoke softly. "It's meatloaf from the cafeteria. Mashed potatoes and green beans. I can bring you some tea if you like."

He closed his eyes and pressed his nose into the pillow to block out the smell and shook his head. "Sorry, no thanks," he rattled out over his terrible nausea.

"What's the matter, are you sick?" The woman leaned forward and he felt her hand touch his brow. He winced at the contact, his skin aching and beaded with sweat.

"Marie—" warned the shadow from the doorway.

"You're freezing." She cupped his face in her hands. William opened his eyes to her. Her features were just as delicate as her touch. One caramel brown eye looked back at him in concern, a black eye patch with a yellow zigzag line covering where the other one should be. She blinked and her mouth angled down in a small frown. "What are you coming off of," she asked as gently and quietly as he'd ever heard anyone speak.

He continued to tremble under her touch, struggling to keep sight of her through the vehement pounding of his skull. "A—little b-bit of everything,"

She stared sympathetically for a moment before turning to the man in the door. "Could we set him up with an intravenous?"

The light glinted from his glasses back at them. "… Marie."

"Look at him, Franken. How could he be faking it," she pleaded.

He stood as a silhouette in the doorway for another moment before sighing quietly and walking down the hall.

She looked back at William. "I'm going to bring you some tea to settle your stomach. I'll be right back." She squeezed his knee before going out the door and closing it behind her with another heavy clang. He waited in the dark until the door came open again and she returned with a cup of tea. "Try to drink this when you can. It will make the nausea bearable. Okay?"

He mustered a nod. "Thank you."

"If your stomach does start to settle, you should try to eat too."

He nodded again and closed his eyes. Next he heard a rolling cart of some kind enter. He opened his eyes and Marie scooted away to let Dr. Stein sit next to him. The scientist picked up his arm. He didn't have to feel for a vein; the trace marks were all he needed to guide a needle. William watched him tape the needle to the bend of his arm after it had already been inserted then put another needle into the tube and press down on a syringe. He flinched a little. "What's that,"

"Mild sedative," he replied around the cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. "The withdrawals have to run their course on your body. But you don't have to be awake for all of it."

He blinked. "…Thanks."

Dr. Stein flicked the dripper next to the bag of fluids to make sure it was going before walking away and out the door.

Marie moved closer again. "Can I get you anything else?"

William maintained a bewildered look and dumbly shook his head.

She patted his leg and went for the door. "Drink some tea and get some sleep. You'll feel better when you wake up."

"W-why are you doing this?" he crackled.

With her hand on the door she looked back at him with a little but pleasant smile. "Because it's the right thing to do. And everyone deserves a second chance."

He could do nothing but stare in confusion, still lightly shaking on his cot.

"Goodnight, William." Marie stepped out and the door closed with another loud clang followed by an equally loud shift of the lock.

He looked after her and he was shrouded in darkness again. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall and let the sedative go to work.