Siblings with Benefits: The Finale 05

*****

Author's note: Okay well seeing part 4 was submitted before three went up, I will just say quickly that although the score on 3 is impressive, I took my share of shots and deservedly so, the Abigail scene was a bit much for this category, but I've been pushing the bar for awhile now, so why stop?. The reaction to 4 so far (I am writing this the night of the day 4 went up) has been great, and It's a good thing, that was dream sequence, because I had some people pretty pissed at me as it was! I apologize for my little malicious misdirection, but hey tis the season for a good old fashioned trick. Now, for what you will hopefully see as the treat. This is what you have waited for since May 27th 2010. There are no more plot twists, misdirection, or spin off's. What you are about to read is the true conclusion to Sibling's with Benefits. So without further adieu let the games begin, enjoy. Lovecraft68

*

I pulled into the nearly empty parking lot across from the Black Flame and sat nervously in the car for a few minutes. Nicole had called and invited me to watch the show with her and I had no reason to decline. I hadn't been to the club since the day of the attack, and admittedly it wasn't just because I wanted to spend all my time with Mark. Walsh had told me to not worry about getting the paintings done; he was more than willing to wait. By the same token, Abigail said there was no hurry on trying to find artists for the gallery; just spend as much time home as I wanted too. In truth Abigail was most of the reason I was staying away. I still had mixed emotions about her.

Although I had given her a hug, and a "let's put it past us' in the hospital, that had been more for Mark's benefit. I had underestimated just how close he and Abigail were, and he seemed genuinely upset that I was blaming her for what happened. Her tender moment with Nicole and her breakdown in the waiting room afterwards had shown me that like my brother, she may not be quite as cold as she appeared. Then there was that story. She had sat there and masturbated while describing how she had slaughtered five men as if they were hogs. Granted what they had done to her was horrible beyond words, but what she had done was beyond human.

I told myself I was being hard in her, we had been good friends over the last few years and it wasn't like I had many. Why should her past change that? Still, I had the impression she was cold and ruthless. Even the breakdowns with Nicole and my brother had come under duress. Most of the time she treated Nicole like what most people thought she was, a pet. So rather than be awkward around her I had avoided the club under the guise I needed to be with Mark. That excuse had run its course seeing Mark was healthy enough to face off with a sleazy reporter looking to gain notoriety at our expense.

I was worried about what was going to happen, but as always my brother was confident. Mark claimed he knew Hartman had been digging and where, and was going to make an example of him. Speaking of ready, it was quarter to four. I got out of the car and walking across the street, entered The Flame. The club opened at six, but most of the staff was there, many of them stopping me to tell me they'd missed me. They also all asked after Mark, who was a celebrity of a different kind there. I felt a pang of sadness when I did not see the familiar faces of Julian and Oscar. The only time I'd left Mark in the hospital had been to attend the funerals.

"Hey hot stuff!"

I looked up to see Nikki approaching and felt the melancholy of my previous thoughts begin to lift. Nicole was wearing a short black and silver dress that hugged her quite nicely along with knee high stiletto boots. Her long blond hair was down, and as always every man's, and several women's heads turned as she walked past.

"Long time no see," She said kissing me on the cheek. "Well, here anyway."

"Yeah, well you know, with everything going on and..." I shrugged.

"Well, let's go upstairs; we're going to watch the interview in our suite."

Nicole turned and I followed her, using the sight of her amazingly tight ass swaying in front of me to keep my mind from worrying about my brother. We took the stairs, which now put her ass at face level, as she walked a couple of stairs ahead of me. The dress was so short I could see the edge of her ass cheeks and I had the urge to plant a playful kiss on them. When we reached the third floor, Nicole went into the apartment her and Abigail kept for when they stayed overnight at the club.

"Where's Abigail?" I asked, seeing the living room was empty when we entered.

"She'll be here in few minutes. You know her; she woke up an hour ago and is down in the dungeon, deciding what the show will be tonight." She gestured to the couch. "Sit down; I want to talk to you anyway."

"About what?" I asked, although I had a pretty good idea.

I sat on the couch and sitting next to me, she turned to face me.

"We don't have a lot of time, and honestly you know I'm pretty direct anyway." She stared at me with those amazing ice blue eyes that were so much like my own. "You're upset with Abigail, that's why you haven't been around."

"Well it's..."

"Look, Megan" she cut me off. "She told me you two had a long talk and she told you some things that personally, I'm surprised about. I mean talking about the Circle is not common and..."

"That wasn't what bothered me." I said pointedly. "I can live with a bunch of well off people playing a hundred and twenty days of Sodom, but..." I paused. "You know what I'm talking about."

Nicole nodded, and putting her hand on my arm said.

"Megan, understand that I will be the first to admit Abigail is a dark soul, and with some good reasons, but she gives her friendship to very few and well..." Nicole grinned and shook her head. "Sometimes she doesn't know how to. To her sharing that story was a sign of trust and her trying to show that she cares about you."

"A hallmark card would have been enough," I told her.

Nicole laughed.

"I agree there, but that is how she is. Maybe a half a dozen people have ever heard that story." She frowned. "She also told you, because she knows your background and thought you could identify. And let's face it Megan, those animals deserved that and more."

Her eyes hardened. "Hell I would have cut them apart a piece at a time and made it last for days."

"Nicole please, I've had enough death and violence."

"Well my point is that much like Mark, who many people dislike, Abigail is a better person than you would think, she's done a lot of good for those she calls her friends, she's just never outward about it."

"She didn't even care you were..."

"That's not true." Nicole said quickly. "She does worry about me, but she had her part to play as did I. She had to send the message, and I'm The Circle's messenger." She sighed. "But she also said you called her out on that, and I..." she squeezed my arm. "I thank you for it."

"What do you mean?"

"Just like she has few friends there are very few people Abigail will listen to. You have never been afraid of her like most are, hell Victoria told me you smacked her. I don't want to tell you what happened to the last person that tried to hurt her."

"Well I wasn't really trying to hurt her I..."

"Point is, she took it. Partly because she knew you were at least partially right in blaming her, but also because she respects you, she knew you needed that."

"Yeah she said that was her way of helping." I shook my head. "I apologized, and I meant it."

"I know you did and so does she. Where I was going though is that you also got through to her." Giving me a surprisingly sweet smile she asked. "You heard her say she loved me?"

I nodded, "Yeah I was kind of surprised."

"So was I." she said. "It was the first time she'd ever said it to me."

"Really?"

"Really." She laughed. "Hell if I knew all I had to do was get shot, I would have awhile ago!"

I rolled my eyes, but laughed with her.

"When we first got together, she was the first, well she is the only woman I've ever been with." Nicole began. "There was just something about her, and... well that's a story for when we have some more time. But in the beginning we were open. She was playing with the young girls at the club and there were a couple of guys I would fool around with. Then after awhile it just seemed to stop. Eventually she asked me to move in with her and it was just us. Don't get me wrong she would play a bit here and there for the rep, but soon she truly went into the unattainable mode."

"Had you ever said it to her?" I asked.

"Once, she didn't say it back and I felt stupid. Then she told me about how much she was in love with Lorena."

"The woman who raised her?"

"Yes, it was kind of a twisted situation." Nicole said. "Lorena raised her as her daughter, but became her lover as well. Abigail said that they would refer to each other as mother and daughter even while having sex." She shrugged. "Pretty sick no?"

I thought of my brother and I, and how my mother had made the remark that love had no rules.

"Well you can't help who you fall in love with sometimes." I said.

"Like you and Mark." She said, a slight smile playing across her lips.

"Well yeah," I said giving her a casual shrug. "Like Abigail and Lorena we're not..." I stopped as she raised her eyebrows. "You...you know?"

"I figured it out and confronted Abigail, who for the record held back, but I kept pressing." She put her hand on my shoulder. "Mark seemed to need a little too much help with this story, more than he would if you were really only a foster sister."

I started to try to speak, but she waved me off.

"I've seen a lot of sick things in my day Megan. You and Mark don't even come close. But let's move on. I'll never bring it up, and you know I'll never tell."

"Thank you." Was all I could come up with.

"But I will say that you were a little unfair to Abigail, Megan. That night at the hospital was hard for her. She almost lost me and Mark, and it brought back memories of Lorena."

"I never knew..."

"I'll tell you, but quickly." Nicole began. "She was truly in love with Lorena and the feeling was mutual. Lorena was a powerful witch and like Abigail does now, once ran the Circle, but she had a soft spot for her dark flower as she called her."

"I thought love was against the rules."

"It is, but trust me some break them and let's face it, in Abigail's position she can do as she chooses, I however, play along with just being her pet, it doesn't bother me."

"Really?" This time I raised my eyebrows.

"Okay well sometimes, but mostly its okay." She smiled softly. "Especially lately she's been different. But for years she was in love, then Lorena was diagnosed with Leukemia and she passed away two years later. In the end when she was very sick, Abigail was by her side day and night. She sent the nurses away and took care of Lorena herself. She would hold her in her arms every night, and she told me that the last few nights she didn't sleep for fear that each breath might be Lorena's last."

I felt my stomach tighten, remembering the terrible nightmare I'd had of Mark dying in my arms.

"Well of course one night that is what happened, and Lorena passed away the way she would have wanted to; in the arms of her daughter."

"They still....?"

"Yes, that relationship was very much like you and Mark's, they were lovers as well as family. Abigail was heartbroken and said she would never love again. She even warned me of that when we started getting exclusive. So I..." She looked away and I noticed her eyes were misting up

"Thank you Megan, I think you made her think about it, and when I got hurt, she realized she could lose me too."

"I'm glad you're happy Nicole."

"We're all happy Megan, and trust me, Mark is going to come out on top of this," She smirked. "He always does." Turning serious she said. "Just try to accept Abigail. She's upset you're upset. Mark is like a brother to her, and you're a good friend and his love, she wants to be good to you."

Before I could reply I heard the door open.

"Megan, it's good to see you." Abigail's smoky voice came from behind me.

I went to turn, but saw she had made her away around to the couch. She was wearing one of the long black gowns she walked around the club in, and leaning over, gave Nikki a quick kiss.

"You wore my favorite dress!" She said, flashing a big smile.

"For my favorite girl." Nikki said with a wink.

Nicole slid over, leaving Abigail enough room to sit between us. She appeared to hesitate for a moment before sitting. Putting her arm around Nicole, she turned to me.

"We've missed you around here Megan," She started. "A lot of people...."

"I've missed being here." I took her hand in mine and looking her in the eye added. "Missed my friends."

I was rewarded with a big un-Abigail like smile.

"And they missed you."

Nicole winked at me from beside her, before grabbing the remote to turn on the television.

"Just in time." She murmured.

I looked away from Abigail and took a deep breath, here we go. On the screen Brad Hartman, who was tall and overweight, with thinning brown hair carefully combed to try to hide the fact he was balding, was standing in front of his chair addressing the live audience as well as his viewers.

"Well ladies and gentlemen, The Truth be told is honored to receive the only live interview granted by our next guest. Please let's have a round of applause, for Chicago's own lethal weapon, District Attorney, and notorious bad boy, Mark Phillips."

"Lethal weapon." Nicole rolled her eyes. "That's the best he could do?"

Despite my concern, I felt a childlike excitement watching my beautiful little brother walk across the stage. Mark had opted for casual and looked damn good; wearing a white short sleeved shirt that flattered his broad shoulders and hugged his biceps. The sleeves were short enough to expose the lower half of his tattoos, and the black slacks accentuated his narrow waist. Mark gave a slight bow to the audience, before shaking Hartman's hand and sitting down across from him.

"Well Mark, I want to thank you for accepting my invitation." Hartman exclaimed, then with his trademark smirk added. "I have to say I'm surprised that you did."

"I'll bet you are." Mark replied with a smirk of his own.

Hartman's smile faded, but recovering quickly he replied

"Well you have turned down quite a few opportunities to tell your story." He spread his arms "And dare I say that many were much more prestigious shows than this one."

"You're right Brad," Mark nodded, sitting back and crossing his legs. "And honestly I'm still not thrilled about speaking of that night, but it has come to my attention that there is another story out there about me that has nothing to do with that."

Mark seemed completely relaxed; I however, was getting more nervous by the minute. Next to me Nicole and Abigail both had slight smiles on their faces, as if they knew what was coming.

"Well, there is that story out of Rhode Island but..."

"Brad, this is your lucky day." Mark said. "See I decided that of all the shows that invited me, that I would come out and tell my story on yours." He smirked again. "I mean you have been awfully busy lately, haven't you?"

Hartman leaned back in his chair as well, and began to smile.

"Well I may be privy to some..."

"Misinformation." Mark interrupted. "But tell you what; I think most of the people here are more interested in what happened the night I was attacked rather than unfounded accusations." He looked at the audience. "Am I right?"

There was a round of applause causing Hartman to frown.

"Working the jury!" Nicole laughed.

"Okay ," Hartman nodded. "So tell me, how does it feel to kill people?"

"It's not a good feeling," Mark replied quietly. "However, at the end of the day it's a better feeling than being dead."

"So you feel no remorse for killing," Hartman glanced at his notes. "Eight men?"

"No," Mark said. "I feel no remorse that I defended myself against eight armed cowards."

The crowd started clapping, and Mark paused for it to die down.

"What I feel is fortunate, fortunate to be alive and very fortunate that my girlfriend Megan was not home." He shook his head, "Had she been there things would have been different."

"Come on bite you weasel." Nicole whispered. "He gave you the in."

"You want him to bring us up?" I asked.

"Damn straight!" Abigail said. "Can't knock him down until he's set up."

On the set Hartman paused, and seemed to be thinking. Apparently deciding to not take the bait he replied.

"So, I have to ask, even with your training, how did you manage to kill all of them, especially Ruine who is reputed to be quite a formidable fighter himself?"

"I prevailed Brad," Mark began "Because Ruine was arrogant, he sent his men at me one at a time to, as he put it, test me. In reality it was to weaken me so he would have an easier time. I handled his men, receiving a knife wound in the process then it was just us."

Hartman began to speak, but Mark interrupted.

"No sorry, there was Giorgio. Ruine said he was there to make sure I fought fairly, of course what he was there for was to kill me if I beat Maxime."

"So Ruine fought you hand to hand."

"Yes." Mark nodded.

"And you managed to defeat a professional killer, a man who was once disqualified from the UFC for being too dangerous?"

"Would I be here if I hadn't?"

That got a few laughs from the audience and Abigail as well, who had an air of someone watching a movie as she sat back on the couch.

"Well I was just wondering how you..."

"Why does it matter?" Mark asked. "What it came down to Brad, is conviction. What did Ruine have to fight for? His name? A name synonymous with drugs and treachery? His father's name? Please. I, on the other hand, was fighting for my life, and not only mine but Megan's as well. That coward told me how they were planning on killing her when she came home."

As Mark spoke his voice gained in intensity and his upper lip curled up.

"I was fighting for love Brad, and Ruine did not stand a chance." The camera had zoomed in to catch the look on Mark's face and as it did, he finished. "I always say that I take what I want and what I wanted was to live. If you're looking for a blow by blow, I don't remember."

"You don't?"

Mark shrugged.

"When it started, twenty years of training took over and I did what I had to. I recall at the end that when Giorgio saw I had beaten Ruine, he shot at me. He hit Maxime instead, and I was able to grab my gun. We exchanged shots and he hit me just below the heart."

Mark tapped his chest.

"I thought I was going to die, and my last thought was that at least Megan would be okay."

He paused for affect and to allow Hartman another chance to mention me. Again he didn't bite, instead saying,

Well fortunately for not only Megan, but all of us, you survived."

"I did, and I owe many people for that." Mark said. "The paramedics who brought me back, Doctor Reginald Ellingwood who performed the surgery, and the staff at Mercy hospital, for keeping me alive before during and after that procedure. They're bigger heroes than I am, they do this every day."

The crowd applauded and I shook my head, watching my brother win over not just the audience, but people watching at home as well.

"Oh he is smooth!" Nicole said.

"I also want to thank another man." Mark said. "Chief of detectives Ben Cabral was involved with my protection and was one of the first to respond. He sealed the crime scene, assisted the paramedics, and even rode with me to the hospital. Once there he kept the media away and made sure everything went smoothly. He even sent an armed escort to bring Megan to the hospital safely."