tampered | Log: Complete

When; Very shortly after this
Rating; We'll see, though most likely R for the gore.
Characters; Frederick Abberline (

bloodyuseless) and Faye Valentine (

glock30
Summary; Faye meets Abberline at the Cathedral after the worst has happened.
Log;

Faye had always hated running. It was of her opinion that you should never have to run unless you were being chased. What was the point?

Right now Faye ran like she was being chased by a pack of wolves. The cramp in her side was burning her ribcage and lungs, and the sharp press of an extra Glock stung the outside of her thigh--but she ran so fast she couldn't see straight. The Cathedral was a good, long walk on a good day. Faye made it there, almost as she said she would, in about three and a half minutes. Her eyes were scanning the premises for Frederick, half-terrified that she would find him and half-terrified that she wouldn't. She kept a lookout for Scarab as well, the woman's face searing her memory and making a freezing fist squeeze her stomach.

She couldn't breathe by the time she leaned against the heavy door, clicking the safety off on her Glock and searching for Abberline in every shadow she could find.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Faye felt like a child walking in on an argument between her two parents. Her two very insane, damaged parents, one of who had just carried the other back bloodied and destroyed.

Scarab was screaming at both of them, and a moment later Faye turned to find Abberline gone and the door to a bathroom shut. She thought about getting him out of there. He needed to face this now, not later, and Faye knew that from experience too, but Faye also knew better, and she wanted him to come out in his own time. Not when she bodily threw the door down and forced him out.

She needed to get Scarab under control, however. Steeling her body against the possibility that Scarab might launch herself at Faye and attempt to tear her apart, Faye said to the woman, stepping closer, "Pull yourself together, Scarab. You're in Frederick's apartment. No demons here. I swear." It sounded lame, but it was all she could think of.

Pausing a few feet away from Scarab and glancing back at the bathroom, Faye waited to see what she would do next.

She was curled agianst the headboard, her arms up to protect herself from the attack that didn't come.

It was the sound of Faye's voice more than the actual words that made Scarab pause.
Pause and peek out from behind her mangled hands.

...."Faye"?...
She asked in a small, shakey and very brittle voice.

Trembling still, Scarab took in her surroundings...and noticed the blood stains smeared across the bed,... and across Faye.

It wasn't possible. It couldn't be possible.
No one could survive something like that...could they?

The trembling became more pronounced as slowly Scarab's eyes found her three-fingered right hand.

A little inarticulate noise of disbelief escaped her.

..Not possible...

Her eyes found Faye's agian, but her damaged hands stayed trembling where she left them; suspended before her as though she had forgotten thier existence, while silent tears began to mingle with the drying blood on her face.

Abberline had thrown up, and washed his hands and face. He concentrated on trying to get rid of the blood on him, but it wasn't really working. He pulled off his coat and jacket, and just stared at himself in the mirror for a long moment, trying to pull himself together.

After a long moment, he stepped back outside, and looked up at Scarab. Awake, and not screaming anymore.

Faye had never had another woman to comfort, and she couldn't remember comforting any of her friends from before the accident, but there was a sort of instinct in her that told her what she needed to do. And it was weird to her, because Faye had disliked or resented almost every woman that she had ever met, but she crossed the room and sat down next to Scarab.

The other woman was crying, and Faye felt a swell of emotion choke the breath out of her. "Yeah," she said shakily, "Faye."

She put a hand on Scarab's shoulder, not sure if she should hug her or even touch her. She would wait for Scarab to decide that. Her hand was mangled and Faye couldn't help but look at it, a taste for revenge and hatred bubbling in her stomach. She wanted that fucking thing to eat pavement, to eat gunpowder and bullets and she wanted the last thing it ever saw to be the heel of Faye's boot as she gouged its eyes out.

"It's done," she was saying, just as Abberline came out of the bathroom looking pale and wet but a little less bloody.

She looked at her hand, mesmerized, unable to comprehend how.

A grisly white hand putting her severed fingers to stone..

No. Don't go there. Not now...not now.

Tears were still rolling freely down her cheeks, but she didn't notice.
Instead she blinked once. Twice. And very slowly moved her left hand, her whole hand, to gingerly touch the long ragged scar showing through her ripped suit.

...I...I-I'm sorry... she whispered seemingly to herself, and brought her hand away.
The blood was still tacky in places, and absently she started to wipe at it.

..I'm sorry...

She looked at faye...then turned to see Frederick.

He was a mess. Blood everywhere.
But for just a moment she found and held his eyes.

"I'm so sorry"

Abberline took a few shaky steps forward, and finally made it to his bed, and knelt on the mattress beside her. He reached out and wiped the blood and tears off her cheeks. He tried twice to speak, but his voice failed him.

Finally, he said: "Let's get you cleaned up, eh?"

He gently took Scarab into his arms like he'd done earlier, but with even more care. She felt frail and delicate, and it disturbed him. "Faye, could you run a bath?" his voice was soft, and still a bit clinical. The bathroom was large enough, and the tub just as - Scarab would have to deal with being naked in front of them, because she didn't look like she had the strength to do it herself - but he couldn't stand seeing her covered in all that blood anymore.

Faye didn't need telling twice. She slid off the bed just as Abberline got on and hurried into the bathroom. On her way to turning the taps on, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. There was blood on her face, in her hair. Scarab's blood. She nearly lost it, but she dealt with it.

It just reminded her of how much she wanted to crush Pyramid Head, now that things were completely personal.

She turned the taps on quickly, sticking her hands under the running water and washing the blood away, checking the temperature at the same time. When it was warm enough to be pleasant but hot enough to, maybe, make Scarab think she was getting rid of that thing's filth for good, Faye stopped up the tub and waited for it to fill, thinking she would give them a moment before shouting that it was ready.

For the first time in far too long Scarab--

No..Keico.

--actually felt safe. She curled her ruined hands in Frederick's shirt front and rested her head on his shoulder.

She was so very tired...and she couldn't seem to stop shaking.

"I'm sorry, Frederick. We were worried..we were really worried..I'm so sorry...

Her voice was still rough, her throat still healing.

"..I'm getting you all messy.."

Her eyes kept drifting to her missing fingers, so she bunched that hand into the fabric further to hide it, and used the other to try and wipe some of the blood off of him.

He noted with a sort of detached calm that he'd been unfortunately incorrect about putting all her pieces back together - it seemed she'd be lacking a few digits.

Frederick sat for a moment, just holding her, one arm around her shoulders. He brought his other hand up to touch her face, petting back her matted hair. "It's all right, Keico," he whispered. It wasn't all right, and he didn't know if it would be again soon, but he knew now that he had to be all right. It was because of him that she'd been attacked, yes, but now it was his duty to be strong for her. He couldn't lose it like this. Faye'd seen enough of his mental instability, he would have to be done with it now.

"I'm fine now, see? Fine... you just relax." He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, stroking her cheek. "We're all fine now."

Yes. They'd all be fine.. fine. It would take some time, but they would be. He slid his free hand under her knees, and lifted her.

They'd all be fine.

Log: Complete

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