The Reset

Chapter Three: Contact

  AN: Confused yet? I hope not! xD But seriously, things are taking an interesting turn. Let's see what unfolds, shall we?  

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Kai folded Bonnie's hands over her stomach after laying her down in their bed. She had been dried off and her soaked clothing removed, replacing it with the comfortable dresses she often favored. The dark green and black dress with the gardenia pattern had been her second favorite. It was Kai's actual favorite, though he'd never told her that. He'd simply said she looked beautiful all the time, which was the truth. She did.

But now he'd wished he'd told her.

He reached over, grasping her hand in his and giving it a gentle squeeze. For a moment, all he could do was just look at her - seeing the peaceful expression adorning her face. It had taken some years for her to be able to look that way. For her to regularly hold such a face and he would daresay that it was worth it. Every argument. Every struggle. Every single fight they ever had, even leaving the other in bruises and in heaps. Mostly it was him being battered to the ground, but Kai didn't care.

He would take every single hit that was thrown at him if it came from her. He would do it all over again if it meant that she was with him now in that very moment. Kai would've given anything up in the world to have her back with him. Or, at the very least, to be where she was now.

Squeezing her fingers in his hand, Kai heard the door shift slightly but he continued to look at Bonnie.

"Dad?"

"Did you get them?"

Lydia closed the door behind her with a gentle click. "It took me a minute to round them up, but I got them." Kai turned to look at her, seeing the sad expression on her face as she looked at her mother. But when her eyes met his, she saw the sorrow swirling with confusion. He knew she had a million questions, but he could also sense that she was holding herself back. "I, uh...I forgot just how big this place is."

Kai flashed her a boyish grin - one that didn't meet his eyes. "What? You don't remember the three hour long games of hide and seek? I'm hurt, Liddy."

Her brows cinched at hearing her childhood nickname. She knew the face of the man who was speaking to her now as the face she remembered when she was a child. Or at least as close to it. Kai had been a bit more muscular, had a squarer jaw and scruff on his face. That was the father she remembered and not the fresh-faced version that was sitting on the bed. Kai knew this but he tried his best to play it off. Mostly for her sake than his own.

"Those games were completely unfair. Cloaking is your specialty and you always scared the shit out of all of us."

He chuckled. "I know. The looks on your faces were priceless." He watched her for a moment longer before turning his gaze back to Bonnie.

There was a minute of silence before he heard his daughter take a breath. "Dad?"

"Hmm?"

"Just...just what happened?"

He reached out to brush a sweep of curls from Bonnie's face, tucking it just to the side of her jaw. His fingers lingered there, half tempted to siphon and see if any magic remained. If the magic he had placed was still there. Was there a chance that she was still alive? Everything had been so perfect. Everything had been going so well and Kai knew he had done the spell right. He knew he had.

And yet...

"Go downstairs, Liddy," Kai replied calmly. He still refused to look at her. "I'll be there soon."