"Before you say anything, I can explain."


Donovan blurted out this statement as soon as the door closed on his and Abigail's bedroom. Abigail had come home from the gym, after having one of the most horrific and shocking experiences in her life. Almost getting attack by an unknown assailant was a traumatic thing. Regardless if you are a badass Water Elemental or not. Man or woman. Some random person in a mask comes at you, intent on causing you harm, it's kind of a big deal. The only difference was that when Abigail was attacked, her instincts kicked in and it caused her to go in immediate defense mode. Which resulted in a massive amount of wreckage and destruction to pretty much her entire surrounding area. Multiple cars were destroyed and there was damage done to the structural integrity of the parking garage. All of which was probably caught on camera. Only adding to her stress factor and the sheer awfulness of the evening.


Needless to say, Abigail was a wreck when she got home and it only got worse, when she discovered another woman there, holding her son. Which really wasn't something that would ordinarily trouble her or give her cause to flip out. Donovan was allowed to have friends that were female. Abigail wasn't crazy. She didn't forbid him from such a thing but when the woman was wearing his clothes. His t-shirt and pj bottoms. After the night Abigail had, stuff doesn't really hit you right and things start to become suspect. You spot scandalous shenanigans, where they might not otherwise exist in the reality of the situation. That was where Abigail's mind was at right now. Somehow Donovan's eagerness to explain only made it worse. One look at her expression and body language would scream that loud and clear too. As she narrowed her eyes, stared straight at him and crossed her arms.


"Okay. Explain."


"That girl in the kitchen..."


"The one that's holding our son. The one that's wearing your clothes. Yes. What about her?"


Abigail interrupted, in a sharp, direct manner.


"Don't do that. Don't act like I did something wrong before you hear what I have to say."


"Did you? Do something wrong?"


"Like what?"


"There is a girl wearing your clothes in the kitchen. I don't know, seems kind of obvious what could have happened."


He sighed and passed another hand back through his hair.


"That's what I was afraid of you thinking."


"Did something happen?"


"No. Fuck no. Christ. I wouldn't ever cheat on you and if I did I wouldn't be stupid enough to... you know what, I'm going to start over. No. Il mio amore. Nothing happened. Between me and the girl in the kitchen or anyone else. I wouldn't fuck with what we have, by doing something unbelievably shitty like that. You're the only girl for me."


"Then why is she wearing your clothes?"


"Because Arkin, threw up on what she was wearing, so I gave her something to wear, while her stuff is in the washing machine. I figured it would be weird to have her in the apartment, all naked about it, silly me."


"Oh."


Uncrossing her arms, Abigail softened her tone.


"Why is she here in the first place?"


"Her name is Rocket, she works with us in the XWF."


"Okay. Why is she here though?"


"Did you notice that the gas station across the street is now a pile of burnt lumber and charred debris?"


"No."


"No? That's kind of a big thing to miss. How did you not see that?"


She hadn't seen it because she was lost in her own thoughts. After the craziness of the night, she barely noticed anything.


"I just wasn't paying attention. I got distracted in my thoughts."


"Something in your thoughts was overpowering enough to distract you from the huge pit, full of scorched, sizzling debris, where the gas station directly across the street from this building, used to be?"


"Yes. Okay. Can you drop it and get to the point."


"Yeah. I'm sorry it just seems a little weird that you could miss something like that. Anyway, the gas station blew up and Rocket made it happen, I know cause I was there."


"Wait. If you were there, who was here with Arkin? You didn't have him with you, did you?"


"No. He was asleep. Here in the apartment."


"You left him all by himself, to go to the gas station?"


"Yes."


"For what?"


"Peach White Owls."


"So you could roll a blunt. You left our son alone. To go to the gas station for something to use, in order to roll a blunt."


"Yes."


"And that girl in the kitchen, that's currently holding our son was responsible for blowing up an entire gas station? She blew up a fucking gas station and not only did you bring her home with you but you're also allowing her to hold our son? What the fuck? Are you mental? What the fuck is wrong with you? Why would you do that?"


Frantic was an underestimation of Abigail. With wide eyes, she rushed to the door but before she could exit the bedroom, Donovan stopped her by grabbing her arm abruptly, turning her swiftly around to face him.


"Stop. Wait. It's okay. She's not going to hurt Arkin."


"She's not? The girl that blew up an entire gas station is safe to be around our son? Excuse me but I don't buy that logic. In fact, I think if you believe that, maybe you should stop smoking pot because you clearly, smoked yourself stupid."


Abigail once again attempted to leave and once more, Donovan stopped her. This time by sidestepping her and placing himself, directly in front of the door.


"Rocket only did that because she was trying to protect me. I think."


"You think?"


"The place was getting robbed. There were guns involved. You would have had to have been there. It was pretty insane. Rocket may have taken a drastic measure but I think her heart was in the right place. I believe in her mind, she was protecting me. Can you trust me on this one? Please."


"Okaaay."


"There's something else."


"What?"


"I think she might be my father."


"What?!?!"


"I think she might be Azrael Erebus."


"You're fucking with me, aren't you? This is one of your weird tall tale, crazy nonsense stories, right? You're trying to mess with me? Have a laugh at my expense?"


"No. I'm not doing that. I know I do that a lot and can get carried away with myself but I swear to you, I'm not doing that now. I'm serious. I'm not the only one that thinks this either. Ezra does too."


"On what grounds?"


"On the grounds that there's evidence that links the two of them together. She popped up on Ezra's weird radar machine that's supposed to track matches to Azrael's dna. There's also been confirmed footage of Azrael, meeting with her weeks before his abduction and death. Ironically the meeting place was at a truck stop diner just outside of Roswell, New Mexico. On top of that, he got her a job with the XWF, right off the bat. Ezra believes these are all fairly important signs. Clues that we should take note of and after what I seen back at that gas station, I think he might be right. Babe. Rocket didn't simply blow the gas station up. Her eyes were blazing with fire and her whole body was glowing like she was a woman shaped light bulb. Then she imploded. Her entire body went off like a bomb. After it happened, I watched her walk out of the inferno that used to be a gas station, the whole place was consumed with fire. Still she walked directly out from the flames, like it was nothing and when she did, she didn't look human. Her body was made of pure fire. Flames that held the shape of a female. I was looking right at her as her body returned to normal. She became a fully clothed, solid form, while she was walking straight towards me. The same way that you can do, except instead of being comprised of water, she was entirely made of fire."


"How do you know she's not a Fire Elemental?"


"I guess that's always an option but something tells me there's more to it than that. You weren't there. In that gas station. Right before it went up and afterwards, when I watched Rocket, exit that inferno. Something inside me clicked and I knew it had to be him. Somehow, someway... my father, put himself inside that girl's head. Or became that girl. I don't even know precisely what he did or how he did it but that girl in the kitchen is Azrael Erebus. You should have seen Arkin, when he saw her. He never met her before and was instantly transfixed with her, the exact same way he was with Azrael and along with that, she immediately picked him up. Like it was some sort of gut instinct. I seen my father with Arkin, it was practically the same interaction. I know how this must sound. So I understand why you might be skeptical. It's crazy. Out of this world. Insane. If I didn't witness what I did, I wouldn't believe me either. I'm telling you with absolute certainty though. In my heart, I know that's really him in the kitchen. Rocket is Azrael Erebus."


"Have you told any of this to her? Maybe ask her if she's really Azrael?"


"No. Azrael released a video that sort of explains that part. In it he stated that the new version of himself, won't know or remember they're really him. It takes some kind of trigger to unleash his memories and bring him back. The only problem is that I don't know what the trigger could possibly be. No one does. He didn't exactly leave precise instructions. It could literally be anything. Sky's the limit. For all I know Sebastian Duke is the fucking trigger. It's kind of weird that he was gone for so long and a little while after this stuff happens with my father, he shows up outta the clear blue. They were close at one point. So who knows? Literally everyone and everything is a possibility at this point."


"What about Rebel?"


"Rebel Star?"


"Yes. Rebel Star. Azrael and her were dating."


"They were?"


"Uh-huh. They sure were. He took her to that dinner party at Joachim Bright's place. The Engineer went postal. Flipped a table full of dead cats. Apparently they were some sort of offering to Azrael because Dexter thought he was ALF. Azrael brought Rebel with him that evening as his date. They were getting pretty close from what she told me. Before... you know. He died."


"So what are you suggesting? This is like some kind of fairy tale type curse? Broken by true love's kiss?"


"Maybe. At least it's better than what you've got."


"True."


"So if you didn't tell her about your theory, how did you get her to come with you to our apartment?"


"I told her that there were a lot of witnesses to what happened and it would probably be best to lay low. That I lived across the street from the inferno that used to be a gas station and she could come hang out, until the heat died down. Pun totally intended. And yes, I said that last part to her as well."


"Of course, you did."