Re: G, Hetty, Abby
G watched Hetty with concern. 'Old bones'? When did Hetty ever complain about the chill and damp? But, as soon as she mentioned Abby, he thought he understood. Standing, he nodded.
The space between houses Abby had disappeared was on the other side of his own house from where he'd been sitting with Hetty. Rather than follow exactly, he moved between the houses on his side, emerging streetside just behind her as she moved down the block. A quick glance past her was enough to gather her intended goal. Damn it.
Maybe they weren't getting through, after all.
At least she was wearing those ridiculous boots of hers that meant even though she was hurrying and trying to catch up to a pair of MPs half a block ahead, it was easy enough to catch up to her without even trying. If she was staying with Hetty much longer, G thought it was time to make those boots disappear. Putting Hetty in jeopardy because Abby couldn't get proper footwear for an escape was not an option.
"Abby," he said casually, taking her arm at the same time to slow her up. When she moved as if to pull away, he tightened the grip, pulling her back slightly and moving in front of her. "Hetty's looking for you. It's time to go."
"I don't want to go, yet."
G bit back a sharp retort at the petulant tone he heard whenever he tried working with her on the self-defense. "I know. But, it's time."
She opened her mouth, then shut it. Then opened it again. "So what? You'll do whatever you want. You all do whatever you want and say it's for our own good, for our protection. But, you don't really care! You're just training us to be killers and I don't want to kill anyone and I don't know anything! Just let me go and everything will be fine! It's better this way."
From out the corner of his eye, he could see the MPs slowing as her voice grew louder, more shrill, turning around to see if they should investigate the disturbance. Out in the open like this was not a place to let her get started on one of her rants. Angling his own body so there would be no way to tell what he was really doing, G pulled her down for a kiss that didn't actually happen. It would look good for the MPs half a block away. But, once her head was tilted, he moved his hand around to squeeze her throat, putting pressure on her windpipe.
"Listen to me," he hissed under his breath. His grip on her arm tightened along with the one on her throat. "There are two options for how this is going to go. Either I let go and you come silently with me over to the car where Hetty's waiting for you to go home. Or, you have a little fainting spell right here and I carry you to that car. But, this? This argument you're gearing up for? This we are not doing. Understood?"
Her eyes widened, but she didn't say anything, only nodded. A glance over his shoulder confirmed the ruse had worked and the MPs were turning back to continue on their way after a little nudging of each other over the display on the street. "Right. Now, am I letting go? Or putting you out?"
He watched her eyes flit over his shoulder and squeezed her throat a fraction more. But, she seemed to get the point.
"Let go," she whispered.
G nodded and slowly released his grip on her throat. Her own hand flew up to replace his, rubbing at the spot where his fingers had pressed, though G knew there wouldn't even be a bruise there. Using the hand on her arm, which had not let go, he turned her around and steered her toward the car. When she looked back toward where the MPs were disappearing into the distance, the grip on her arm tightened and, thankfully, she turned back around to walk the last few steps to the car in silence.
Opening the door, he helped Abby inside. Hetty was already in the driver's seat and G exchanged a look with her before closing the door and waiting until they pulled away from the curb. Then he went back to the party, trying to push his misgivings about Abby's attitude to the side so as not to sour a mood that had improved since a couple nights ago, but wasn't quite an easy one just yet.