DISCLAIMER: Quite simple: I do not own them.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The timeline for this story is mid season 3.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Angels In Chains Again
By Tashe Dangerous Eyes
Chapter 18
Brittle as a fallen leaf, fragile as a last hope, but stubbornly holding on to that last ray of light the shadows were trying to steal away. That's the way Kelly's spirit kept subsisting in the face of the most atrocious silence she had ever endured. People she knew she should trust had given her reassurance and people she did trust did the same, but their voices and words ran through her with just a scarce vestige of weight, shouting their significance to no avail because there was only one thing she would believe, only one voice she would hear…however, neither was a reality at the moment. Sabrina's voice had abandoned her so many hours ago, as did her gaze and even her presence. Kelly could see her body stretched out on the hospital bed, but it was just that, a body without laughter, without thoughts or soul. Everything that made Sabrina who she was felt lost to Kelly which is why she couldn't quite believe that the woman she loved was going to be all right.
Sabrina had lost consciousness even before they could get her to the ambulance and Dan had to carry her the rest of the way. On their way to the hospital some minor convulsions took hold of her body and Kelly instantly knew they were losing her. The minutes became like giants slaps on the face as each passing one didn't seem to get them any closer to the hospital…but finally they arrived. Kelly communicated as fast and as accurately as she could all that had been done to Sabrina in the prison, including the possible administration of an experimental drug which she handed to the doctors, and as they took charge of Sabrina the terrified Angel was made to let her go and she was weakened by an overwhelming sadness and the horrifying thought that maybe that was going to be the last time she saw her friend and love alive. Thinking back to those horrid moments only served to aggravate Kelly's state of mind.
It had been two hours since they arrived at the hospital and Kelly was in the middle of another crying spell and Dan was running out of encouraging words to console her. Fortunately for him Bosley and Kris came through the waiting room doors to offer some help with the inconsolable Angel. Bosley and Dan shook hands while Kris went straight to Kelly.
"Kelly?"
"Oh Kris…" Kelly threw herself at Kris' arms and the blonde Angel held her tight.
"What is going on? How's Bree?" When Kelly didn't respond Kris looked at Dan.
"We still don't know. But it didn't look too good." His last sentence was said in a lower voice, somber even.
"Why won't they tell us something? We've been waiting here for so long. Can't they see how desperate we are?" Kelly said abruptly, her angst getting the best of her.
"Kelly, calm down. Tell us what happened." Bosley tried to divert her concentration away from the wait, but he wasn't sure if the recount of the circumstances that led them to the present point was going to be any better for Kelly.
"After Kris was taken away I had to come up with a plan to get Bree out of solitary…" Suddenly Kelly fell silent.
"Kelly?" Kris prompted her to continue, but Kelly remained silent.
"She blew up the prison's kitchen and the dining room and the basement." Dan stated, still not believing it himself.
"You did what?" Kris and Bosley asked at the same time.
"Janet helped me after I told her who we really were. It was the only way I was going to convince her to help. But Kris, when I got down there that damn Becker had drugged Sabrina." Kelly left out the rest of what she was sure were Becker's intentions.
Kris and Bosley looked at each other with absolute panic in their eyes, but Kelly missed the interaction completely. Her face was between her hands while trying to fight the desperation she was feeling. Desperation was also in Bosley and Kris' hearts because after sharing the case details on their way to the hospital they both knew exactly how real was the possibility of losing Sabrina forever now that they knew that the killer drug was in her system. All of a sudden the news made the wait even more unbearable. It wasn't long before Kris herself was also crying. Dan, contrary to Kelly, saw their reaction.
"What?" He asked.
Kelly raised her head at the question, but Kris decided to tone down the answer. Her friend was quite distraught as it was. "That drug is experimental. There's no telling how Sabrina will react to it. Kelly, do you know how much drug was injected into her?"
"I really don't know for sure. I found Becker with the syringe in her hand and it still had quite a bit of the drug in it, but I don't know how much was in it to begin with. I brought it with me and gave it to the doctors. Sabrina suffered convulsions on the way here and she was unconscious. I tried to help her, Kris…I was just too late." Kelly started to cry again, letting out the feelings of helplessness she was feeling, and Kris once more embraced her, but this time she was sharing her anguish completely.
After hours of an agonizing wait that was taking a toll on all of them the doctor finally appeared to let them know about Sabrina's status. At the sight of him they all stood up at attention letting him know he should get right to the point. "The traces of the experimental drug that we found in her system were enough to threaten Miss Duncan's life, but thanks to this young lady's initiative," The doctor said pointing to Kelly. "…we were able to identify its traits soon enough to combat the effects. Still, it was a close call because your friend was injected on the neck and it didn't take long for the drug to reach her brain. However, the amount of drug was also too small to resist the aggressive treatment we gave her and after a precarious couple of hours of real battle we were able to gain the upper hand. Then, to our surprise, a few moments later she regained consciousness which allowed us to ascertain that she didn't suffer any brain damage. She is quite a fighter."
The group let out the collective breath they were all holding at the news that Sabrina was going to pull through. The doctor saw the relief on their faces and felt proud and blessed at the same time for being there and for having the knowledge and the perseverance to save yet another life. He continued to tell them the rest of the news. "After we were sure she was out of the woods we treated her other injuries. Several of her ribs are bruised, but thankfully none broken, still we wrapped them tightly to help with the healing and control the inflammation. Then we re-treated the cuts on her face and made sure they were properly disinfected and applied new butterfly stitches on them. After that it was just a matter of making her comfortable so I gave her a good dose of Morphine for the pain. She is now resting peacefully."
"Can we see her?" Kris asked the question, beating Kelly to it who was visibly struggling with a lump in her throat.
"I understand there have been some arrangements for her to have a private room. As soon as she is settled in you can visit her for a little while." The Angels looked at Bosley questioningly.
"Charlie." He stated simply.
Bosley shook the doctor's hand and conveyed his gratitude and that of the entire group. The doctor smiled and walked way. Sabrina was going to live and she was finally safe and free of pain.
Selfishness was keeping Kelly from being completely happy with that. She was grateful, thankful, elated that Sabrina was going to be fine, but she wanted to have her awake, talking and confirming those facts herself if Kelly was going to believe them absolutely. Instead, she only had the unbearable silence to keep her company and she hated it because once again here she was waiting for Sabrina. The sleeping beauty had given Kelly the answer she so hoped for, but now she just couldn't wait for her to be awake so they could start living their lives together.
It was Sunday night, almost nine o'clock and Bosley, Kris and Dan had left a couple of hours earlier, but Kelly stayed to no one's surprise. Even in her state of mind Kelly was careful not to let the two men know what her real feelings toward Sabrina were, but they didn't have a reason to suspect anything because the deep friendship between the two women was reason enough for her wanting to stay. The private room they were in had a very comfortable lazy-boy chair, more than accommodating if someone wanted to sleep in it, but Kelly paid it no attention, not finding any other way to calm her anxiety but to pace, which made the private room a blessing because Kelly was sure her constant pacing would've driven anybody else in the room quite crazy.
Kelly went to Sabrina's side again. She had lost count of how many times she went to her to make sure she was still among the living just to find that she was peacefully sleeping. Part of her felt guilty about wanting her to open her eyes knowing that perhaps that could only mean that Sabrina was probably going to be feeling the pain again, even if it was less, but she couldn't help it. After what had happened in the prison, especially with Becker, Kelly had so many things to say and to ask her. Her thoughts were driving her mad. She kept battling with herself about what to say or do or when to do it. Even after knowing that Sabrina loved her as much as she did her the tall Angel still managed to have Kelly's insides in turmoil. Kelly smiled to herself thinking that life with Sabrina Duncan would never have a dull moment.
Her hand caressed the face she considered to be so beautiful, even with the cuts and bruises, and she closed her eyes, like trying to send as much love as she could through the contact. "Don't touch me." The bitterness in Sabrina's voice made Kelly jumped back away from her in confusion and her heart tightened inside her chest with a pang of hurt. For a very painful instant Kelly thought that back at the prison Sabrina had said to her what she wanted to hear only because she thought she was going to die and Kelly couldn't think of any other reason for her words, of anything at all to counteract the dreadful thought.
"Bree? I'm sorry if I hurt you." Kelly said tentatively, taking a different route than her destructive thoughts.
Sabrina's eyes were shut tight in a gesture of pure disgust, but at the sound of Kelly's voice she opened them quickly. The darkness in the room didn't do much to help her understand what was going on so she used her voice instead. "Kelly, is that you?" Kelly understood that Sabrina couldn't see her so she turned on the lights and then dimmed them a little not to hurt Sabrina's eyes.
"Yes, Bree, it's me." Kelly's shy smile was hiding her pain well, but not well enough for Sabrina not to notice. After all, nobody knew her face better than the other Angel.
"What's wrong?" Sabrina's eyes finally adjusted to the light in the room and she saw the array of expressions crossing over her partner's face and that scared her a little. "Am I going to be alright?"
"Oh God, I'm sorry, Bree. Yes, you are going to be fine." Kelly thought about the irony of the situation. She had been waiting for Sabrina to confirm that very fact for her, but at the end it was her confirming it to Sabrina.
"Then, why are you so upset?"
"Don't you remember what you just said to me?" Sabrina searched her memories, but only found that she was still quite dizzy. She brought her hand to her head to try and clear the fuzziness. "Bree?"
"Yeah, I think I do. I'm sorry, Kelly," Kelly braced herself for Sabrina's next words that were sure to yank away the happiness she had just barely found. "…I wasn't talking to you. For a moment I thought it was Becker trying to-" Sabrina looked at Kelly and she frowned when she saw her expression. "Kelly?"
"Oh Bree, you almost gave me a heart attack." Kelly approached Sabrina again and she hugged her carefully. True bliss engulfed her when Sabrina put her arms around her as well. Kelly looked into her eyes and then deposited a soft kiss on her forehead and she let it lingered not wanting to break the contact. But eventually she did. "I love you so much."
"I love you too." This time it was Sabrina who brought Kelly closer to her and she kissed her on the lips. The want in both of them was palpable, but Kelly didn't want to hurt her friend so she pulled back.
"How are you feeling?"
"Tired, dizzy, weak…but no pain and I can finally breathe, so I'll say I'm fine. I don't remember much though."
"You gave us quite a scare, but the doctors kept at it until they turned things around because you were right, you were drugged. Fortunately it was a very small dose. Kris, Bosley and Dan came by last night and then again today, but you slept the whole time thanks to the painkillers." Kelly explained without going into too much detail.
"So, today is…" Sabrina didn't finish her sentence, still a little disoriented.
"Sunday night, to be exact."
"Kris, is she okay?" Sabrina asked suddenly as the memory of the auction came back to her mind.
"Yes, she is. It turns out Bosley and Charlie already knew about the mansion and the auction and had arranged for Bosley to participate in it. Bosley ended up buying Kris. Charlie talked to the Mayor and he organized the police to raid both the mansion and the prison." Kelly filled in more blanks. "Kris was kind enough to bring us a change of clothes today, among other personal things."
Sabrina observed Kelly for a moment. "Why did I almost give you a heart attack, Kelly?"
Kelly considered the question and thought about how she should answer it. She didn't want to tell Sabrina about her doubts, but she also didn't want to let go of the chance to talk about what had happened between her and Becker. "Because I thought it was me whom you didn't want touching you, that maybe you had changed your mind."
"No way, Kelly, you are stuck with me." Sabrina gave her a little smile, but it died too soon. "But maybe you might want to change yours."
"Bree, what did that woman do to you?"
"It's not what she did, it's what I did." Kelly couldn't keep her mind from imagining the worst, but it didn't matter to her because she knew that the circumstances in the prison were against Sabrina and there was no way she was going to reproach her for anything she had had to do. Kelly felt her anger coming to the surface and she wanted nothing more than to have another chance at punishing Becker for what she had done, but she also felt helpless for not having been there to stop it.
Kelly's anger shone stronger than anything else and Sabrina had the dreadful feeling that her confession was going to mark the beginning of the end of their relationship. "I'll understand if you can't forgive me, Kelly, and if you can't be with me I'll have to accept it, but it's just that the situation was so impossible to handle…" Sabrina had to take a deep breath to calm herself because a lump was forming in her throat, threatening to silence her. She was already grieving her lost.
"Whatever it is you did I don't have to forgive you for it. There's nothing to forgive. I know it was that damn woman's fault, no one else's, especially not yours." Sabrina's tears fell down her face and Kelly touched them. Her love was finally letting go, letting herself be vulnerable, and Kelly understood that it was because now she was not alone. Now Sabrina had her in her life and she trusted her to enter the most private corners of her mind and to pick up the pieces of her heart. Kelly accepted the responsibility and honor with opened arms; there was nothing else she wanted more.
"I had to do what she wanted for the sake of the case, but Kelly, I never let it get too far. She made me a deal and I took it, it gave me control of the situation. It was the only way. Of course, she didn't keep her word, but you came just in time and you kept her away from me. Before that she only managed to kiss me and she roughed me up a little, but then again so did I her, the roughing part I mean."
"You mean I actually interrupted her from-"
"…consummating our relationship." Sabrina finished for her. Kelly felt a great relief inside of her now that she knew for sure that she had arrived in time after all.
"Then, what in the world are you apologizing for? You should be proud of yourself for keeping that woman's claws off you for as long as you did. Not to mention the fact that her face had your signature all over it when I arrived at the solitary cells." Kelly sounded like she was scolding Sabrina, but in reality she was feeling quite proud of her.
"I'm apologizing because even though I had no choice at the time I still felt like I was betraying you and the love you have given me. I felt quite guilty, Kelly, guilty and dirty after every touch, every look, every kiss or attempt at kissing me, every suggestive comment...I wanted so much to fight her, to give her what she deserved…but I just couldn't." Kelly could see the shame in the other Angel's features and decided that she needed to get rid of it once and for all.
"Sabrina, you did fight her. Not only that, you managed to defeat her at her own game. Janet was telling me how Becker operated and even she didn't have a clue as to how you managed to keep Becker at bay all this time. And you got under her skin too. She mobilized the guards and came to your rescue, she brought the doctor to tend to you and she threw her own accomplices in solitary for touching you…I'd say she made a huge mistake when she made that deal with you, because now she is going to jail herself and she won't be able to get you out of her mind any time soon, which means you'll still be in control. Like I said, you beat her at her own game and that is nothing to be ashamed of." Sabrina smiled shaking her head at the smugness of her friend who was thinking herself so clever, and she couldn't help to poke a hole in her assessment of the situation.
"That maybe so, but doesn't it bother you that she'll still be thinking of me, in who knows how many ways?"
"No. I can't control how others feel about you, so let her, because at the end only I will have the pleasure of your company." Kelly responded, a sensuous smile adorning her lips.
"Thank you, Kelly." After a short pause during which both women did some quiet thinking about the experience that was still so vivid on their minds, Kelly spoke again.
"I can't believe that Kris knew about what was going on with you and that damn woman and she didn't say anything to me. I'm going to have a talk with her." Kelly's voice had a hint of indignation.
"Have that talk with me. I made her promise not to say anything to you."
"But why?"
"Oh, I don't know, to keep you from doing something crazy." Sabrina said with sarcasm.
"Ah, c'mon, I-"
"Boom!" Sabrina cut her off with the mimicry.
"All right, point taken."
Kelly padded Sabrina's thigh as an indication that she wanted her to make room for her on the bed. Sabrina didn't have to be told twice and scooped over. Kelly lied down next to her with care not to hurt her and she put her arm under Sabrina, resting Sabrina's head on her breast. Then, she brought Sabrina's hand to her lips and kissed it. "Well, I guess we are good then."
Sabrina repeated the gesture with Kelly's hand. She was in awe of the love her partner was capable of, a love that had liberated her from any doubts and feelings of guilt, and given her peace of mind and freedom to her soul. She couldn't remember a moment when she felt happier than that very instant. "We're more than good, Kel, we are perfect." Once again their lips came together and in a mixture of tenderness and passion realization descended upon them; their love was true, unwavering and therefore eternal.