Author Note - I thought I'd post this one, because... why not? Elliott needs more love in the HR community. :') Anyway, I wrote this one back in 2010 when I was a young, dumb rookie fresh to the site. I still think I did a decent enough job. But I do want to write a full story with this OC and plotline. This is basically a one shot/summary of events, leading up to the main event. I have taken the time to give this a polish. I hope you all enjoy. Thanks for reading. And please, some feedback would be incredible. :) - Laura

This has also been posted to my AO3 account, LJ1983. Don't forget to follow me there if you want to keep up with the latest stories and updates.

Till Death Do Us Part

September 1921.

Salisbury, England...

Katherine Spencer sat staring into the eyes of the man whom occupied the photograph in her hands; a man in a military uniform looking brave, gallant and ready to fight for King and country. The man, an army Captain and decorated War hero, was Katherine's husband of only five years, yet they had been through so much together.

Katherine Alma Willoughby had met Elliot Spencer back in 1915, on the Western Front during the Great War. She had been an army nurse, tending many wounded soldiers of all kinds of ranks and ages, some of them only being young boys. Most of the men who came into her care rarely survived, and some were dead on arrival, but one man in particular caught her attention when he bounded into the nursing station with one of his gravely injured comrades draped over his shoulders.

He was quite an attractive man, with the most vividly startling blue eyes she had ever seen, and a mischievous charm and air about him which floored even a pensive woman such as herself. She had been taken aback by his bravery more than anything, the selfless deed in which he had carried out. He had charged, without a thought or concern for his own welfare, right into the middle of gunfire and hand grenades exploding about him to save the life of his comrade, the young Private under his command who had been struck by enemy sniper bullets. Unfortunately, the young man did not survive; however Captain Elliot Spencer, his rescuer, did.

The respected Captain had been bowled over by Katherine the minute he laid his frost blue eyes upon her, and fell in love almost instantly. Her head was full of dark untammable corkscrew curls, her lips were rose red, her skin bronzed and healthy and blemish free. She was very short in stature though - five foot exactly, and it was quite intimidating to stand opposite someone like Elliot Spencer, who was a good foot taller. But it did not put her off.

Elliot, though you could see in those vivid baby blues of his that the horrors of the brutal war was getting to him, was such a persistent cheeky charmer, with an equally cheeky dimpled smile, and tried everything in his power to woo Katherine, to which he finally did.

Katherine relented and agreed to go for a drink with him. One drink turned to many dates and many dates led to Captain Elliot Spencer asking Katherine for her hand in marriage on the battlefield one day in 1916. She accepted. Then in September 1916, the two wed; with Elliot looking as handsome as ever in his dress uniform, and Katherine looking like an angel in her long flowing bridal gown.

But not long after the happy couple wed, Elliot became more and more distant as the years went by. After the war had ended, Katherine had noticed he was not the same Elliot Spencer she had fallen in love with. The Elliot Spencer before her now was angry, drank a lot, and to Katherine's dismay took opium. He even got into fights, with one time getting the beating of his life when he decided to flirt with another man's wife at the local bar. Katherine nursed her husband's battle wounds, but somehow she felt the mental wounds he carried around with him would take a lot longer to heal than his physical wounds.

By the time they had entered the 1920s, Elliot had been completely consumed by the 'survivor's guilt' that he seemed to have been suffering from since the Battle Of Flanders, and rather than turn to God in his time of need, he turned his back on Him, claiming He too fell at Flanders.

Katherine grew ever more concerned for her husband who seemed to have become a ghost of himself and she was afraid she was losing him. Not even his dear and beautiful younger sister Evelyn, whom he was always so close to as a boy growing up, could not reason with him or make him see sense. And his elderly mother was utterly heartbroken beyond words for her eldest son's behaviour.

Katherine was now despairing. It would seem the self destructive path he had chosen to walk down may very well one day be the end of Elliot. She just knew that one day, he would end up in prison, homeless...or even dead.

Then, one fateful morning, her worst fears were confirmed. She remembered waking up alone in bed; his clothes and suitcase were missing and a note was left on his pillow for her to find. As she read the note, she cried and tears splashed down, ruining the ink and making it run down the page...and it was then that she knew that there would be a possibility she would never see him again.

A month went by, and still no word from her missing husband. His family had now given up, and assumed that he was dead, began to grieve for him. But not her, never her. She knew he was out there somewhere, suffering, alone. She had to find him.

But how? He could have been anywhere.

Then one night Katherine had an intense dream. A dream revolving around a puzzle box. A dream filled with pain, despair, and even pleasure...and all this came from Elliot, she could feel his suffering and knew she had to go and find him...

She found herself visiting India; she just knew he would have come to this place, for the baser methods of gratification. The whorehouses, the opium...this place had it all. But she was also following her instincts; her heart. This led her to a cylinder-shaped bunker, a Quonset hut. Stepping inside, she at once saw - there laid out on a cot - his belongings, his uniform jacket, a radio playing soft jazz music in the far corner. But no sign of her husband.

"My God, Elliot; where are you?" Katherine gasped outwardly to herself, really frightened and worried for her husband. Where in the world could he be indeed?

As she attempted to step closer to his cot, her foot accidentally kicked at a brass object on the floor right in front of her. It was a box. A puzzle box. The very same puzzle box from her dream. Leaning over to pick it up, Katherine stared at it. It sure was beautiful with its patterns, carvings and obvious brilliant workmanship. Whoever had invented this fine work of art must have been a genius. But Katherine could also sense, as she gazed at the beautiful box in her hands, that it also had something to do with Elliot's disappearance. She just knew it. She could feel it in her heart.

The more she thought of it, the more drawn she became to the box, and soon she found her fingers working the designs of the puzzle. Her desire to find Elliot was so strong and was helping to guide her fingers.

Eventually, with an audible click, it shifted and configured in her hands. It wasn't long before it seemed she had solved the box, and the little circular panel on the top slid open, whilst at the same time the room quaked and the crevices in the walls became more evident. The atmosphere became dark as well as the room, and Katherine gasped and backed away when the wall opened up and revealed to be never-ending halls and corridors leading to God knows where inside.

Katherine squinted through the bright light which poured out from the opening and could just make out two shadowy figures coming forth to her. The two leather-clad individuals drew nearer to her and looked upon her with dark and unfeeling eyes. One was a female with pale blue skin, bald with her throat sliced open and held in place by the wires which protruded from her cheeks. She kept her cold gaze on Katherine, a rusty knife in her hands and looking ready to kill her as she circled around her like a hungry wolf, while the other stepped closer and placed a hand on the female's shoulder, gripping it.

"This one is mine. You shall leave." he barked at the female.

This creature was a male, and he was quite extraordinary in appearance. He was bald and pale-skinned like the female but what made him stand out so much more than the female was the many pins that adorned his face, all driven in to every intersection of a bloodless grid like pattern which was cut into his face and head. Many wounds to his chest were shown in all their sickening yet erotic glory while the flesh from the cuts were supposedly pinned into the leather suit he wore by rusted hooks. He was quite tall and seemed to command authority. But he seemed familiar to Katherine somehow, and she couldn't quite put a finger on it.

"You opened the box, summoned us, and we came." he finally spoke after the female left them alone, not taking his unblinking dark gaze from Katherine.

She said nothing; she simply stared at him, drinking in the sight of him. There was just something about him. His eyes, his manner, his expressions, his lips, his height...his face. Even for the pins which covered his face and the deathly tone of his skin he was quite handsome.

Katherine still stared closely at his face as a startling realization hit her. 'Oh, my God - it can't be...'

"Who are you?" she whispered faintly to him, her hands trembling with fear.

The pinheaded man's hairless eyebrow rose upward minutely and he stared at her with a curious expression twisting his studded face. "I am a Cenobite; an explorer in the extremities of the flesh. You solved the box, so you must come with me. Such pleasures await you."

Katherine was deathly certain now that this 'Cenobite' stood before her was the very person she had decided to make this trip for in the first place. The one she was desperate to find. The man everyone else was certain was dead. The man she married.

"Elliot, is that you?" she choked.

The Cenobite looked to her with such disdain. "I am a Cenobite; a Bringer of Pain, server of Leviathan. I do not know who you are referring to, child. I do not know of this Elliot. You solved the box - now you must come with us and experience our wonders. You cannot escape us or evade us with your little ruse." he boomed, his voice so deep, monstrous and dripping with malice.

But Katherine was certain that the creature stood in front of her was that of her husband. She looked him in the eye, straight in the eye, seeing how he was just about ready to flay her, then said determinedly; "It is, it is you Elliot! What is this you've become?"

The Cenobite, seemingly calm but Katherine sensed his impatience mounting, kept his unblinking hard stare on the beautiful human female before him. "I have always been this way, child...always. I am Xipe Totec; favourite son to Leviathan and leader of the Cenobites, the Dark Prince of Pain and Black Bishop in the Order of the Gash. I greet those whose desires call us, and then we show them the true meaning of suffering. I want to hear no more of this Elliot you seem so certain that I am. I was never human. You are mistaken."

Katherine seemed to understand now what had happened to her husband, what the box was. The world that he now served. But she would not listen to him. She knew Elliot still existed within him.

She moved even closer still, placing a hand to his cheek. "No, I am not mistaken. You are. I stand before my husband, Elliot Spencer. He is in the room with me now and he is you. Elliot, please, listen to me! Break free of your spell and come back to me! How could you leave your mother? She's heartbroken that her only son may be dead. Your little sister who loves you, who just wants her big brother to come back and watch over her; she's never been the same since you left. And me, Elliot? How could you leave me?!" She was hysterical now. "Elliot, please listen to me!"

The pinned man's lip curled in anger and without warning, his arms snapped out with his hands roughly grabbing her shoulders. She gasped in horror as he then pinned her against the wall with force. She could feel his chilly breath ghosting along her cheeks, making her shudder. "I am not Elliot, woman! Do not refer to me as such as one of your own."

Katherine's patience had finally worn down, and her hand now connected viciously to his jawline, just below the bottom row of pins, slapping him hard and receiving cuts to her palm from where she caught the pins. She watched on as his facial expression turned from pure anger to confusion and surprise.

"How dare you! Where's the Elliot I knew who went racing into battle, the Elliot who dashed out into the middle of gunfire to save the life of a comrade, the Elliot who wooed me continuously, the Elliot who loved to dance with me, the Elliot who said on our wedding day that we shall..."

"...always be together no matter what..."

She finally looked up and seen his stunned facial expression, and his impenetrable onyx eyes seemed to flicker to blue for just a moment. Then finally, he said in his normal gentle tone; "Katherine?"

Katherine smiled through the tears and she gently cupped his cheek in her hand again. She had finally reached him; she had broken to spell he was seemingly under. "Yes, it is I...it's your wife, the woman who loves you so very much."

The hands gripping her arms slowly began to loosen, as did his facial expressions and he shrank away from her, looking disgusted with himself. "Oh my God, what has become of me? Why did I do that? Oh, Katherine, I am sorry. Please do forgive me." he pleaded, sounding more like the old Elliot he used to be with every passing second.

Katherine hushed him, placing her finger to his lips. "It's okay. It's not your fault. I understand. The horrors of the war made you into this, darling-"

"I'm a monster!" Elliot cried out, interrupting his wife and looking to his pale hands and then reaching up to touch one of his pins. "I'm a goddamn evil monster! Stay away from me Katherine... I'll just hurt you like I hurt everyone else..."

While he backed away from her and pressed his back against the wall, Katherine came closer to him, looking up into those eyes of his and placing a hand to his chest. "No, Elliot, you are not a monster. You are a man, a good man, my husband. I can feel your heart beating through my hand."

The two stare into one another eyes for what seemed like a lifetime, each feeling the love that they once shared growing in leaps and bounds. How she missed him, how she insanely loved him, even if he did leave her all alone. But that did not matter now; all she cared about now was her troubled husband and decided to soothe him by placing her lips to his for a gentle kiss, being careful of the pins that may poke at her flesh, and feeling the icy coldness of them, yet they made her feel so warm inside.

The kiss deepened, the familiar sweet taste of her lips lingering on his and as they pulled apart, they gazed to each other and she reached to stroke his face again. "Tell me Elliot," she soothed. "What exactly happened to you?"

For what seemed like an eternity, the Cenobitic Elliot explained all before his wife. He told her everything. The box, the Labyrinth, solving the box and being impaled by hooks which dragged him into a world where he was to serve a God of Flesh and Desire.

Katherine was shocked beyond words. She felt Elliot didn't truly deserve all of this, he was not an evil person. He was simply lost and angry; he needed help, not damning. "Oh Elliot." she whispered sadly, stroking his cheek and feeling all the love she felt for him building up.

Placing a kiss upon his cheek and leaning away, she suddenly yearned to hold him again, to touch him, to feel him one more time before he must leave her. She gave him a look full of unbridled love, lust and need and Elliot understood what she wanted. Slowly, with her silent permission and nod of approval, he began to unbutton her blouse and slid it gently from her lithe form, revealing succulent breasts restrained and aching for his cold touch.

Once the blouse and bra were discarded to the dusty, wooden floors, his hands reached behind her waist and started to unzip her skirt, allowing it to drop and pool around her ankles while she gently undid the leather vestments adorning his body. He appeared to be much more muscular than before, but that was not all that had caught her eye. They misted over as she took in the new scars he had on him once he was naked which had never been there before. Deep, brutal, ugly scars that would kill any ordinary man...and she struggled to muffle a gasp when she peered down and noticed the vicious ring that had pierced right through the tip of his manhood.

Oh Elliot..., she wanted to say, but she did not. Instead, she looked up and saw the sadness in his eyes,

"I know I look much different now," he said. "But I am still the same man."

Katherine stood on the tips of her toes and leaned in for another kiss before saying; "Then please show me..."

Elliot smiled sadly, and nodded his head, picking her up in his strong, muscular arms and holding her close to his chest. Walking over to the cot, she was then laid down while he hovered above her. She then felt the cold touch of his hands, leaving Goosebumps yet also giving fire of desire that burned deep inside her as she wanted him...oh how she wanted him again.

"Make love to me, Elliot, like how you used to." she murmured to him, watching as he carefully climbed across her and kissed her with all the fury which had been newly awakened in his body...and for the first time in nearly a year, they joined mind, heart, body and soul...

After many hours of passionate love making, both Katherine and her newly Cenobitic husband lay in each other's arms, holding the other so close to their sweetly moist body. Each wanted to stay this way forever, but Katherine knew that was not possible for Elliot was no longer apart of her world. He was no longer human, even though when they made love she could feel everything that made him so. He would have to return to his new realm, and she knew this.

Bringing a hand up to his chest and feeling his fast heartbeat which was now slowing to a regular pace, Katherine whispered; "Must you leave, Elliot?"

Elliot's arms tightened around her and brought her closer. "I am afraid so, my love. My God will not be best pleased if He knew of what we just did. And I do not belong to this world anymore. I wish I could stay, Kathy, but duty requires me to return back to the Labyrinth. Additionally, duty requires me to claim your soul and take you to the Labyrinth, since you summoned me...but-"

"Let me come with you then!" Katherine suddenly blurted out to him eagerly. She gazed up into his face attentively. "Anything so we can be together."

Elliot sighed and lowered his gaze. "I cannot take you, my love."

"Why not?" she inquired.

The Cenobite shook his head. "Because..." he sighed again. "You do not belong in my world. An angel such as you would be so much out of place in-."

"But, what will happen to you if...if you don't take a soul back?" Katherine asked timidly, fearing his answer.

The pinheaded creature who was once her husband sighed heavily once again and tears began to well in those fantastic ebony eyes. "Leviathan will punish me...severely." he told her grimly.

Katherine gasped out in shock. "No Elliot, you can't do th-"

"Ssssh, my love." He placed a finger about her lips to soothe her. "I am an immortal creature now. This will be nothing compared to the pain you would face if you were to come. I must leave you be, and you must live out your life."

Katherine felt close to tears again, but she knew he was right. She had to let him go. The couple eased themselves up from the cot, and out of each other's arms, reaching for their clothes to dress themselves once again. Once they were respectively clad, they simply stood there; rooted to the spot, smiling sadly and reaching over at the same time to join hands.

"Please, Elliot; promise me one thing?" she whispered sadly.

"Anything." he replied gripping her hands tightly.

She stepped closer to him. "Never forget me."

Elliot, now a Cenobite known as Xipe Totec, leaned over and kissed her lips before pulling away and revealing to her blood tears which streamed down his pale, pin adorned face. "You have my word, my beautiful Katherine. I...love you, I always will."

Katherine choked through the grief and the tears. "I...love you...too, Elliot." That was all she had to say for she understood she could not keep him any longer. She must let him go.

Elliot nodded briefly as he turned on his heel and walked toward the opening in the wall, which had recently been opened up again for him, making his way down the never ending corridor she could see. Not once did he turn back to look at his broken-hearted wife, and when he finally disappeared from view and the split in the wall came together the distraught young woman sank to her knees and buried her face in her hands, crying and weeping for her one true love.

Just Over a Year Later...

Katherine sat across a blanket draped over the finely cut grass of the local park, smelling the sweet fragrance of the flora all around her as she watched a chubby, podgy-limbed baby of several months in age in front of her giggle excitedly, waving his rattle about. She could not take her eyes off of him; this little baby boy in front of her. The baby she gave birth to, the baby that was her and Elliot's son.

"Are you having fun, William? Do you wish we could stay here all day?"

Baby William responded by giving out such a delight-filled gurgle, smiling to his mother with the very few little teeth that his mouth held and staring at her with such vividly blue eyes.

Katherine smiled and picked up one of William's teddy bears; a really old one, one from his father's childhood and danced it about, listening to his shrilled excited squeals. "Well, we can stay a little longer if you want. This is the very place your daddy and I used to come, and I find it so peaceful. I can feel close to him here."

Little William would not understand a word his mother was saying to him, but it did not matter. Her son was always a ray of sunshine, always lit up her world with his cheeky, dimpled smile, and always reminded her of her love who was far from her reach.

William's father; the one who now resided in an alternate dimension and who had no idea he had a child to the woman he was married to for five years when he was a human being.

But...whether little William was conceived during the time he was still human, or the one special time in the bunker in India whilst he was transformed and mutilated, Katherine would not know.

All she did know was that William Elliot Spencer was the result - either way - of the mutual love they shared for one another, and Katherine couldn't be happier for she was left with a permanent reminder of her beloved husband...

The End...

End Note - I just wanted to point out, the part where Katherine remembers meeting Elliott with a comrade slung over his shoulder having gone through a bullet-riddled battlefield to save the young man...well, my Great-Grandfather did that, having fought in WW1, and I thought to myself when I was told that story... that is totally something Elliott would have done, 100%. :D Elliott was also said to have had a wife, in canon, for background character info. I remember reading about it. The wife died after giving birth to a stillborn daughter. That's so sad. For the sake of this story, and being a happier ending, Elliott's wife lives, and has a son. :) Of course, Katherine is completely my OC, and I hope to explore her in future stories. Whether it be to stick with canon, or with this story. In the meantime, I hope you all enjoyed this story. Thanks for reading. Again, your comments are valued and welcomed. :)