Undone by a Broken Angel

24.) Heading Out

"The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps."

-Proverbs 16:9

Abraham:

It doesn't look like she's happy to be going with him.  She retreated into his home to prepare, but the look on her face was unhappy, completely uncomfortable, and he wonders if maybe she just doesn't want to actually go, and she's only doing it out of duty.  He can relate to that, but since when did he and Nathanael ever make her feel like she had to risk her life for them?

Nathanael rushes out to Abe the second Abigail goes inside to change and pack her things while Abe stands mystified in the yard trying to figure out how she bested him.  The old man is angry- Abe can tell that much by the way his feet heavily pound the ground as he stomps and his sagging skin jiggles on his face in a very unbecoming way.  Abraham's anger grows, fed by Nathanael's- fuel for the fire.  After all these years of suffering, the old man still keeps reminding Abe to be careful as though he needs reminding.

Oh, yes, keep thinking that way, the voice eggs him on, Let that anger fester, and then when you're ready, kill him.  Kill them all.  Especially Abigail, she's the most decedent of them.  Then she won't be around to silence me or make you so confused.

Red clouds his vision and for a few long moments, it's all he can see.  It's bad enough that she's coming with him, but to be lectured like a child when he already knows is too much.  He's thought all of this through- he has!  And to top it all off as if it wasn't a mess already, he's started developing feelings for her, which no one is going to know about.  Not even her.  Especially not her.

The voice likes to exploit that fact, but he makes an effort not to listen to it.

The other day when she floated down the stairs into the kitchen wearing the dress of their culture, his heart stopped beating and he forgot to breathe.  In all his life, he doesn't remember a single woman igniting that much excitement in him before.  He couldn't take his eyes off of her.  He wonders what about her caused such a physical reaction in him.  Was it her long legs, the way they seemed to go on forever, or was it the dip on her back, the one right above the perfect roundness of her derriere?  That doesn't sound right, however; he also really liked the way the dress hung off her shoulders and flowed over her loose breasts, how they contoured them perfectly.  He liked how her pure white wings were fully exposed and sat magnificently on her back, blending nicely with her white dress.

Thinking of her seems to be helping his mood.  Nathanael continues to chew him out and he blocks out the noise like he does for the voice.

It's not just her looks that has given him this unnatural need to protect her- he doesn't want to entertain the idea of what he would do if something happened to her, with or without him there to protect her- it's also the way she speaks to him, her "give it to me straight" attitude.  But even then, she knows when she's pushing her limits.  By God, he thinks, she can be stubborn and so hard to read.  It's next to impossible to guess how she might be feeling or what she might be thinking.

"Are you even listening?" the words are screamed into his annoyed face, Nathanael now up on his toes to be nose to nose with him. 

Abraham looks down at him without giving him the decency of changing his facial expression.  The voice, his constant companion, loves all this anger and yelling.  Abraham, trying to lose himself in his thoughts, decides he cannot ignore the elderly falcone for much longer.

"Step.  Back," he growls, showing Nathanael he's not joking.

Thankfully, the elder is wise enough to listen.  Abe is surprised he's pushed his luck this far, everyone else is too scared to.

"You cannot tell me anything I do not already know," Abe reminds him.  "I'm actually pretty intelligent, Nathanael, and you shouldn't underestimate her like I did just now, and I won't be making that mistake again."

"She's not ready," he argues, his face red from his elevated blood pressure.  "It's over for us if anything happens to her."

Abraham rolls his eyes.  He's well aware.  He thought ahead the moment he received Dianna's letter.  Suspecting that she would want to go, his mind thought off all the possible outcomes.  The first being the worst: that she dies, the species ends, Satan dominates the earth.  To the last outcome: they return all in one piece, she marries David or Joshua- because let's face it, Sam and Paul are too old- they're able to produce the first falcone child in over a decade, and they destroy all the reapers.  

He's not sure how all that's going to happen, but he learned many years ago to trust God.

A memory of him falling to his knees, tears streaming down his sobbing face, a desperate plea falling from his lips.  He pushes it aside with a flinch.  It's all in the past now.

"Do you have anything to tell me that I do not know, Nathanael, or is your purpose of existing to annoy me?" he asks with a monotone voice, and it sets Nathanael's eyes aflame with rage.

"How dare  you!  You were supposed to leave without telling her!  You've been around her too much already!  What would Dav-"

"Enough!" a sharp voice shouts, separating them.  "Fighting won't solve whatever this is going on between you!"

The target of Nathanael's rage is now aimed at Abigail, who is matching his rage, puffed up chest to puffed up chest.  She's changed, Abe notices.  Instead of the corset she had been wearing before, it looks like she has her breasts wrapped up.  She also must have gone through some of his old armor, because she wears a similar vest to his own that he had worn as a teen.  The thick leather looks good over her heavy white skirts, and her cloak hangs on her shoulders, hiding her beautiful wings.  Nathanael leans over her and instead of stepping away, she pushes on his chest, forcing him to fall back on his heels.  "Don't try that on me.  I'm sick of old men not valuing my worth."

That leaves the old man speechless, but he's clearly not happy about it- Abe finds it amusing.  Holding back a smile, he watches her put the old man in his place like the future queen she is.  She has so much strength, he wonders why she didn't leave Venice before he came along, and then he's suddenly happy she didn't.  Who knows what would have become of her then.

"I'm going," she tells him flatly.  "I'm not a servant you can order around and I'm not a prisoner you can lord over.  I know you saw that fight and I know by the way he  fights, that he's good, better than good, actually.  Which means I'm good.  I can protect myself and you have to be okay with that."

She turns on her heels then, leaving the elder swaying on his feet, shocked.  She slips her hand into Abe's and he feels a rush of good flood his system, the voice in his head only growing louder and more irate.  "Let's go," she whispers, not wanting to argue anymore.  Against his frame she vibrates in fear, and Abe thinks that maybe she's not as fearless as she appears.

"May I make a request?" Nathanael asks with a hesitating voice, but continues quickly when he sees the expressions on their faces, "take a few books with you.  To read along your way.  It may help answer some questions you have, to answer some you may not know you have."

After a moment of contemplating the idea, Abigail agrees, and the old man runs inside his home to pull out a small stack of books.  Abraham doesn't like all this waiting around.  If his family really needs his help, he should have left hours ago instead of wasting all this time.  He'd be over the channel by now and halfway over France, and that much closer to helping Dianna curing them of whatever sickness they have contracted.  It doesn't sound like the same illness he has, but he has to go see them to make absolutely sure that it isn't the same, only then can they be saved.   

He shifts on his feet, though Abigail seems perfectly content waiting in the silence that stretches out between them.  "How did you learn to fight like that?" he wonders aloud.

"I could be asking you the same," she counters.

It must be a touchy subject.

"My dad taught me," he replies.  "He was a general and it was expected of David and I to follow in his footsteps.  In the end, it was expected of everyone anyway," he laughs at the end and she gives him a sympathetic look.

"He must have been a great man to have raised such a kind man," she says with a hushed voice, her face angled away from him.

The memories he has of his dad are loving.  Though he was tough and he and David, they had a good relationship, and he learned many things from him, including how to respect others.  Abe smiles at the beautiful woman in front of him and thinks that maybe, just maybe, he can show his dad just how respectful he can be.  In order to pull this journey off, he needs to protect her along the way and he knows that in his heart, it's not just a duty, it's a need.

Once Nathanael makes his slow trek back to them, he slips two books into Abigail's bag and pulls her into a hug.  She returns it stiffly, and promises him that she'll return safely.  

Abe shakes the old man's hand. Keep her alive, Nathanael tells him in his mind and Abe nods in response.  Abigail looks at them questioningly, but doesn't voice her curiosity.  They take to the sky then, Abby right at his side, and they leave the island in a few short minutes.  Abe's mind sings with joy that he's finally on his way.  It's been a long time since he's seen his brother.