Butcher couldn't believe what he was hearing, she had just offered to buy him a car so he was able to see someone she found for him. "Don't expect anything fancy, we need something incognito, a generic car, like a 'Ford' or a 'Toyota'" Athena took her phone out to start looking for cars, sitting on the sofa where Prince was in his spot. "You don't have to do this, you know, love?" She knew that, but she had to help because in her mind, helping him find his wife was the only way that her feelings of attraction towards him were going to go away. It didn't take long for her to find a suitable car and buy it, considering she didn't have any assistants anymore she would have to go pick it up herself.
"All done, I'll go pick it up now." She stated, going upstairs to try and dress incognito as possible, she made her hair shorter and added a cap and sunglasses, as well as some overrides clothes and a racer jacket, from further away she didn't look like a woman, which is what she wanted. Heading back downstairs, Butcher was already there waiting for her so he could open the door. "Be safe, don't take too long." he nodded, opening the door and placing a hand on her lower back as she passed, sending a chill up her spine from his touch, that's when she paused halfway on the steps, turning back around to face him "I just realised, I can't drive two cars back...youre gonna need to come with me." She didn't want him too, but there was no other option, Butcher went back inside for a second, coming back with a hood up and sunglasses on. "Let's rock and roll gorgeous."
The car dealership wasn't too far away, about twenty-minutes or so, but unfortunately for Butcher, that meant twenty-minutes of Athena blaring Amy Whinehouse as she drove slightly recklessly between traffic, "Your driving is fucking diabolical." Butcher stressed from the passenger seat, "You do not understand the power you feel singing 'Valerie' while you drive." She was right. He didn't.
Once he got over his initial fear of her music inspired driving, he found himself listening and watching to her singing along, she was good- but that was too be expected, Quantum had two Grammys under her belt. It was refreshing to see her out of the house and not trudging in from work. Athena noticed him bopping his head slightly along to the music, and she nearly laughed. "I knew you liked Amy!" Billy quickly stopped, realising he had been caught, "No idea what you're on about love." He smiled, which almost made her melt, almost.
"Right, you can't expect me not to enjoy a musician like Amy Whinehouse." The confession made her laugh as she continued driving, it wasn't long before Butcher was actually singing along with her, not loudly, more of a muttering along to the song and the few other ones that came after until they eventually arrived at the car dealership. "We're here. You stay in the car. I can't risk you out in a public place." They were in a retail park, and there were a fair few people around. You could never be too careful. Billy watched as she interacted with the salesperson, filling out forms and chatting until she ended the conversation with a handshake and handed a new set of car keys. He stepped out of the car when she got closer and took the keys from her hands, "The car's that Toyota Camry there, get in and follow close behind me." He nodded, keeping his head down, walking to the silver car quickly and hopping in. It wasn't hard to follow her home in the car, as Athenas car wasn't exactly hard to miss, at least she wasn't swerving in and out of traffic like they were on the way home.
Once home, Athena ushered Butcher into the house, shutting and locking the door behind them. "Now you've got means to get to your 'mates' house." She mocked the British term, earning a look from Butcher that she scoffed at. Butcher grabbed her hand as she was walking past him. She turned and looked down at their hands, and then back up to him "Thank you." Butcher said sincerely, looking into her eyes, those beautiful eyes. "Don't mention it." She squeezed his hand before letting go and walking to the kitchen to make them some lunch. For the next two weeks, it was like clockwork for Butcher and Athena, she would go to work, spend her days with Annie, covering for her when she went off to meet with Hughie, or go to A-train to pray for his recovery. Then she would come home where Butcher would have spent his day trying to find information about Becca's whereabouts, and every day, it felt like he was getting further and further away from finding her. With dinner ate in the dining room the pair would help each other clean up before they would retire to the couch, Prince had a new spot on the single sofa while Butcher and Athena would sit on the larger one, Athena either curled up to Billys side or her legs resting on him while she sprawled out on the couch, either way was perfect for her. They didn't share a bed again, feeling that it would make things more complicated, and they were both mature enough to come to that conclusion.
Everything was fine.
Until one day Butcher wasn't there when she got home from work, she ripped the house apart looking for any signs of someone coming in to take him, all of his things were gone, there was no sign of a break in. So Athena could only assume he had left her, that he had finally found Becca and left her, there was nothing on the news saying he had been apprehended so that was the only conclusion she could come up with for his somewhat spontaneous removal of himself from her life. The house seemed empty with him gone, Prince would stroll around the house whining, wondering where his new friend had gone, he ever went and slept in Butchers room sometimes, and it broke Athenas heart to see the cat so sad, but she understood how she felt because she was feeling it too. Her days went from excitement of coming home to someone cooking for her, something she had not experienced in a long time, to dreading coming home to an empty house, with no smart-arse remarks, no cheeky smirks, no companionship. She felt empty, Annie could sense it too, but having no knowledge of her sisters interaction with Butcher, she could only believe it when she had said she "must be going through some seasonal depression." there was something more to the story but Annie thought it best not to pry, especially since her plate was full, being so close to being able to release the information of Compound V to the public.
Athena would occasionally try and find out if Hughie had mentioned anything of Butcher coming back to Annie, but he hadn't. They didn't know where he was.
And neither did she.
YOU ARE READING
QUANTUM~Billy Butcher
Fanfiction"Well, don't you look absolutely breathtaking, love." "I know you're not planning to take me out, so what are you doing stalking me down a dark alley, Mr Butcher?"
