End of Watch

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"I knew she would...one way or another... which is why I told you to wait at the hotel. I planned to handle things differently." Talon told her. 

Molly heard the voice and her stomach twisted. A part of her blamed the other woman for what happened to her baby. How could she not? She kept walking. Pretending not to hear Ivy.

"Then give him a name." Molly whispered as her consciousness wanted. She reached out for her lover's hand. "I love you, Darbok..."

The orc and the little elf were left behind with little more than explaination of the location. Even if Kandomere had lost, it felt like he won.

“Come on...” Darbok reached out, sliding an arm around Viola and leading her to where he had parked his own car. He didn’t say much in the way to the hospital, knowing there really wasn’t much he could say. He was turning names over in his head, conflicted over whether Molly would want a human or an orc name for the child she asked him to claim. He barely even heard the quiet sobs that still shook the small elf’s body where she was sat beside him.

The hospital was overly quiet when they arrived. The nurses glared at Darbok as if he'd killed someone.

Kandomere appeared in the center of his sprawling mansion and collapsed on the floor. He had no illusions that someone would be there to help him.  Why should they? He was a monster. Even his mother had told him that.

Darbok didn’t even really seem to take any of the glares to heart, the sad truth was that he was used to it. He kept an arm around Viola, despite them both being covered in blood, and ushered her into a seat in the waiting room. Once that was done he crouched down in front of her, hands resting gently on her knees. “I’m going to find out where they took Molly and Talon, then I’ll bring some coffee, okay?” He asked in a quiet voice.
Viola looked down at the orc and nodded her head. She remembered the first time she met him, how he had always known how Talon felt about her, and had tried to make the human jealous. “Thank you.” She breathed, at a loss for anything else to say.

Kandomere was a monster, but Celia had also been his victim for so long that her mental state had gone far beyond being a simple case of Stockholm syndrome. He had indeed punished her for her last failure, so badly that she had been unable to even lift her head for days. However, here she was, kneeling beside him and pleading with him not to leave her. It was much in the same way her daughter had howled in grief for Talon.

Molly was not doing well in the hospital setting. They'd had to strap her down to keep from hurting herself and everyone elf in her attempts to escape. She was screaming at the too of her lungs, tearing her voice raw. The doctor was ordering s sedative, trying to get her under control.

Kandomere barely heard her though she was directly above him. "This is your chance, silly woman. End me. Take power for yourself. Why do you hesitate?"

Though he had promised Viola he would get her an update on Talon, Darbok couldn’t ignore the screams when he heard them. He knew right away who they belong to, and was soon right outside the room, demanding to know why his ‘friend’ was screaming.

Celia smiled sadly, a slender hand sliding against his blood smeared cheek. “Because I love you, you foolish asshole.” She breathed, no longer even pretending that she was as subservient as she believed Kandomere liked.

"The young woman is going crazy. She's screaming about getting him away from here. This is no help. She's losing more blood. But the doctor is coming with a sedation formula. That will take care of it easy enough."  The male nurse added with a soft laugh.

"Love is...not real..." Kandomere gasped out. "People use it...as a tool to hurt one..another... haven't you caught on to that...by now?"

Somehow Darbok resisted the urge to punch the nurse. “Not without my consent you’re not!” He growled, pushing his way into the small room. There he muscled his way between the fretting nurses and gently took hold of Molly’s hand. “All this noise from such a little woman?” He teased her gently.

“I’m a slow learner...” Celia breathed. “I know you don’t love me, but it doesn’t change how I feel.”

"Darbok...go...you can't stay here." Molly's skin was ashen and she was now longer putting up a fight. "Please go. I can't lose you. I need you."

"It doesn't matter anymore...soon you will be the one the stomp...out the light, my darling." Kandomere whispered

“Princess, you need to let these people help you.” Darbok breathed, still holding her hand. “They need to patch you up so we can save the world, right?” He added with a grin.

“No.” Celia whispered, trying not to read to much into his use of the world ‘darling’. “Not without you. I do it for you, not for me.”

Molly wasn't grinning back. "I want to go home. Darbok, the dark lord is going to  try and kill you. Just like what the dark lord did to Ruvik." Her eyes were red rimmed with exhaustion and fear.

"So what would you do...if I were...gone?"  Kandomere asked. The curiosity about her answer was making him momentarily forget his pain.

“I know.” Darbok replied with a shrug. “I’m an orc, someone is always trying to kill me. If you don’t just learn to accept it, it will drive you crazy.”

“Without you, there is no me.” Celia breathed, her gaze dropping as though her own words embarrassed her.

"It's not the same. You don't understand..." Molly had a tight grip on her lover's hand. The doctor looked toward Darbok, silently indicating whether it not he should sedate her.

"Kali..." Kandomere whispered, thinking his wife had come to take him to eternal damnation. "Why will you never never leave me be?"

Darbok shook his head ever so slightly. “Princess, this nice man is going to fix you, so I can take you home and stay safe.” It was no longer him asking her permission, he was telling her how things were going to be.

Celia had heard Kandomdre whisper that name before, and as he never spoke of his past, she didn’t know the meaning behind it. As always, it simply filled her with a jealous rage; how was she to know she bore a passing resenbalance to the woman the dark lord had loved? “Stay here... I’ll have somehow help you to the water...”

"Are you going to stay?" Molly asked, her tone taking on a pleading note.she didn't want to say so but she was sure she'd seen Ivy walking around in a nurse's outfit earlier. 

"The water..." Kandomere smiled to himself. "Do you remember when we found it? It came from that tree...your favorite one...Life..."

“I’m always by your side, you know that, princess.” Darbok breathed, giving Molly’s hand another squeeze. “Got make sure these doctors don’t try and steal you away from me, right?” He added, brushing his lips lightly against the back of her hand.

Celia could feel something that she detested; she wanted to cry. She heard the man she loved recalling his memories of time spent with someone who wasn’t her. “The only thing we have found together... is pain.” She whispered.

Molly woke up, feeling much better. The surgery to fix the damage done to her during the fight with the dark elf had gone well. 
She felt more herself than she had in a long while in fact. But once again she woke up alone. She called for a nurse, hoping for so.e food and something to keep the edge off the pain. And just maybe the nurse would know where Darbok was...

"That's what life is based on. That's the only...thing that is true..." Kandomere whispered to her as she helped him into the water. "Pain is the only constant. It's the only gift I have for you, Celia. It's how I ensure you don't leave me."

“You rang?” A familiar voice asked, the door clicking shut behind the nurse as she entered Molly’s room. “What’s the matter, sweetie? Not pleased to see me?” Ivy purred with a flick of her crimson hair.

Celia faltered slightly, her wide eyes looking up into Kandomere’s as he confessed such feelings to her. “Why would I leave you?” She asked, a wounded look on her seemingly ageless face. “I gave you everything I have, even the pain of my own child.”

"How do you keep showing up?" Molly groaned. "I don't remember in inviting you to this." She tried to get up, only to find that her legs were not working with her.

Kandomere eased himself into the water, hating that this was the only way to heal himself. "Kali left me." He said softly. "Everything I care about leaves me. I won't be surprised to find that you are gone soon too."

Ivy smiled, watching Molly struggle. “You still think you’re in any kind of control of this situation? How cute.” She mused.

“I’ll only be gone when you send me away.” Celia breathed as she watched Kandmoere ease into the water. She had once spent three days right here at his side as he recovered, and he had never cared if she left him then.

"Did you do this?" Molly hissed, pointing toward her legs. "What is your problem? I'm not going to your dark elf.  He can screw himself and so can you!"

"She said the same thing. Then she destroyed herself trying to keep me from getting magick." Kandomere said softly, his tone sounding rather heartbroken.

“You still have use to him.” Ivy replied with a roll of her green eyes. “He needs to have a back up bright if the elf fails him.”

“There is more to life, than magick.” Celia breathed as she took us her vigil beside the water. “I’ll never be her... and I don’t think you want me to. If you did...” she looked down at the broken fingers he had left her with during her last punishment.

"He needs me because I'm the only one that can create a the orc wand he needs. Don't try to fool me." Molly griwled. "Though I don't know how he thinks I'm going to make it for him when I have no interest in creating another child."

"Leave me." Kandomere snapped. "I need rest and you are pissing me off. Magick is all that matters. It is the only thing that exists."

Ivy let out a shrill little giggle, clearly quite amused. “You really think he needs your consent?” She purred. “Enough money and he can have any orc he wants have his filthy way with you, and boom, orc wand.”

Celia wearily pushed herself back to her feet, smart enough to know when she was in a losing battle. “See... you don’t give a fuck.” She practically snarled.

"he'd have to get past Darbok first." Molly said confidently. She was certain of this, not thinking of the variables or the things that happened to her last lover.

"Now you're getting it." Kandomere said his eyes white moments before he closed them. "Goodbye, Celia." He muttered.

Unfortunately, Ivy was only too willing to remind Molly of this. “You mean like he removed the last orc you let climb between those creamy thighs?” She replied, a wicked smile on her ruby lips.

Celia left the room without saying another word. Once she thought she was far enough away, the slender elf screamed as loud as she could. Apparently giving Kandomere everything she had simply wasn’t enough.
As one elf was screaming in frustration, another was pleading with a nurse to tell her how her husband was doing. Of course, Viola wasn’t telling anyone she was an elf, even she knew how people would shut her out for being in a inter-species marriage. The single good thing to come from what her mother and Kandomere had done to her, was that Viola truly did look human now, unless her eyes returned to their normal colour once see recovered.

"Shut your mouth!" Molly shouted, shoving off the bed. She forgot about her sleeping legs and fell into a heap on the floor.

The nurse sighed heavily. "Look, the damage done to your husband's neck is severe. The doctor is keeping him in a comma so he doesn't tear it open again. I'm not sure you want to see that. Why don't you just go home and get things ready for him, sweetie?"

Ivy simply looked down at Molly with a smirk. “Don’t tell me you really think some shrek faced hotshot will really keep you safe?”

Viola felt her lower lip quiver, but she quickly bit down on it, wanting to be brave for Talon. “We got married last night, he was taking me to see our new home forts the first time... when this happened.” She breathed.

"I can take care of myself. He is there to support me. You're just jealous you couldn't catch his eye." Molly said with a smile. 

"Has an officer spoken to you yet? Maybe the officer can take you home when you are done" the nurse suggested.

Ivy smiled and sat on the bed Molly had fallen out of. “You really believed me, huh?” She asked, seeming truly pleased by this.

“How can he take me home if I don’t know where I live?” Viola asked, beginning to feel all too frustrated. “I just want to see my husband!”