Work Text:
After having two completely different children, Katherine would like to think she was quite astute at picking up on when a child was hiding something. Granted, Abaddon was not technically a child.
But anyone who sat in a car seat, was currently planning a trap to torture Santa Claus, and flung themselves on the floor and screamed for two minutes because someone 'stole their nose' was a child in her eyes.
The little boy and Abaddon had become one in the same, and that body was being piloted by both of them.
So, when Katherine noticed that Abaddon was refusing to use his left arm all day, she knew something was wrong.
He had just a few favorite things: Yogurt, vents, blenders, climbing and cereal with un-godly amounts of sugar.
In the morning, he used his right hand to scoop out his cereal and eat it. His hands were unusually shaky, grabbing the attention of both Katherine and Esther who looked at each other from across the table.
And then his hands hit the bowl, sending it across the table and milk all over Ben's shorts.
Abaddon let out a groan and let his head slam on the table. Katherine looked at him expecting him to look angry, but instead he looked... resigned? His eyes were closed, and face slightly paler than usual. Katherine frowned.
"Dude!" Ben exclaimed. "These were my favorite shorts!"
Abaddon's head snapped up, eyes red. "They look stupid on you, anyway!" His voice went up an octave and cracked as he stomped away.
There he was
There was a long silence.
"I think they look pretty good on you, buddy." Nathan said quietly.
If anyone knew what was up with Abaddon, there would be one person. Katherine motioned Esther over before she could leave to go to school. The redhead skipped over with a huge smile on her face.
"I get to stay home?"
"What? No." Katherine shook her head.
"Damn."
"Language." Katherine corrected. "I need to know what's wrong with Abaddon, he's acting weird."
"He's a demon who was approximately ten years old who is in the body of an eight-year-old from the 1700s. He's weird." Esther shrugged. "Also, the little boy was probably British... Extra weird." She added, rubbing her chin.
"No, I mean he's acting weirder than usual." Katherine pointed to the other room where Abaddon was lying prone on the floor, staring at the fireplace.
"Maybe he's not feeling good, or he's hurting." Esther shrugged, and even though she tried to hide it Katherine could see the concern on her face. The two were basically cousins. Esther spent most of her time with him and unarguably knew the most about him.
"Hurting?" Katherine questioned. "He feels pain?"
"Um, yes?" Esther said, almost offended. "One time the monster in the swamp took his leg and he hid in the vent for like a week until I could find it and duct tape it back on."
"Wait, monster in the swamp?" Katherine interrupted. "He didn't have a leg for a week?"
"Never mind, mom! Gotta go. Take care of Abaddon! Bye!" Esther yelled, running off and out of the conversation before she could be questioned further.
The good thing about running a hotel that hardly got visitors is that there was a lot of time to lurk. Sure, there were the ghosts that asked a lot of questions and got very annoying. But for the most part, Katherine was able to lurk.
Which was how she saw the most pathetic sight of Abaddon trying to toss a small ball with his right hand, failing to catch it and getting smacked in the face, falling to the ground with an undignified squeak.
Shit. It was time to step in.
"Abaddon..." She said in her best I totally didn't see what just happened voice. "What's going on little... dude" Maybe little dude wasn't the best phrase to use. Damn it.
He struggled to get to his feet, which was kind of pathetic but to his credit he managed. He dusted himself off and put his chin up like he so often did. "Katherine. I am well." He spoke. "I was... I saw a dark entity, and I threw the ball at it, and it threw it back, I was uninjured in the process. And it is now gone." He said, nodding at his own lie.
He was such a horrible liar. How the hell did he manage to possess someone?
"It was no match for me. You are very welcome." He said with a finality, attempting to walk away.
She gently grabbed his arm before he could leave. He yelped and she let go quickly as he jumped back. His right hand went to cradle his left shoulder.
"Are you okay?" Katherine gasped.
"I am fine!" He snapped, a small pout on his lips. He turned his head, away from Katherine and looked down at the ground. "I just... The disrespect."
Katherine rolled her eyes, okay now it was time for some tough love. "Okay, let's cut the shit."
Abaddon looked at her, and he seemed almost offended. It was kind of funny. His eyes were narrowed. "What do you mean?"
"You're hurting!" Katherine pressed, and she had to be somewhat right because, Abaddon took a step back.
"I do not hurt!" Abaddon growled, curling his right hand into a fist. "I was born impaled-" oh god here we go... "I was once torn apart by an entire army in hell, and my limbs found their way back to my body again!"
"Then climb!" She interrupted him, pointing to the mantle of the fireplace.
"I-what?" Abaddon asked quietly, fist unfurling. He sounded uncharacteristically vulnerable.
"I once saw you climb to the top of the fireplace, almost to the ceiling!" She said, "So if you're not hurt, then do it!"
Abaddon clenched his jaw, his eyes glaring red. His tiny hands were balled up in frustration. But Katherine knew she wasn't in any danger, because despite any of his threats, Abaddon was incapable of hurting anyone other than the occasional bird. He did truly care about them, if his story about reliving the history of the earth over a hundred times was true.
"I have nothing to prove." He mumbled.
"So, you're admitting you're hurt." Katherine stated, tilting her head.
"Fine." Abaddon hissed.
It caught Katherine off guard, but Abaddon went to his usual climbing spot and looked up. He took a shaky deep breath, and Katherine was going to stop him but then he started.
To his credit, he actually made it pretty far. She was going to throw the towel in and admit that maybe Abaddon was right and he wasn't hurting. Maybe he was just having an off day. But he was barely using his left arm at all. He was relying solely on his legs and his right arm.
Abaddon stopped mid climb, he was just above the picture frame, and Katherine was just about to tell him to come down when he lifted up his small left hand...
Two things happened at once: Abaddon let out a cry that Katherine had never heard before, and she was almost convinced that it wasn't him, and he fell to the ground.
Katherine ran towards him, as he hit the ground with a thud, his head smacking the ground. On any other child, it could have been a brain bleed or a death sentence.
By the way Abaddon lied on the ground, Katherine thought maybe it had been.
But then there was a whimper.
"Holy shit, Abaddon." Katherine gasped, hurrying over to the boy. She fell to the ground next to him, she helped him sit up, concerned by how limp he was. "Sweetie, I am so sorry."
"I... climbed." Abaddon gasped, pointing up, his eyes unfocused. He was as stubborn as ever, and Katherine laughed at the familiarity of it. She thought he had somehow acquired brain damage.
"You sure did..." She agreed, looking up at the fireplace mantle. At the same time, she could feel Abaddon almost falling over if it weren’t for her steady grip on him.
Could little demon boys get concussions? Should she be worried? It wasn't like she could very well take him to the hospital, she didn't even want to think about the vitamins he was deficient in- not to mention he was definitely underweight.
"But you're still hurt, Abaddon..." Katherine said, Abaddon opened his mouth to protest and she stopped him before he could. "Do you remember how you said you went back and stopped us from dying one hundred times? And then you beat the crap out of that cult for us?"
Abaddon looked down at the ground and nodded.
"That was really nice, even if you don't want to admit it because it makes you throw up a horrible amount of blood, okay?" Katherine continued. "So just think of this as me paying you back and doing something nice for you."
Abaddon paused but eventually nodded. Katherine stood and sighed. "But I'm carrying you upstairs, because I'm not letting you fall and crack your head again."
Abaddon groaned but accepted the offer. Carrying him was always weird, especially when he was quiet. He was small and breathed like any other child; it was so easy to forget that he was... Abaddon.
It got even more interesting when he rested his head on her shoulder. She stopped, and he glared up at her, cheeks turning red as he closed his eyes. "My head is feeling... odd. I'm simply resting it and using your human body as... an object."
"Of course." Katherine agreed, a small smile forming on her lips.
They made it to the bathroom, and Katherine placed Abaddon on the sink. She leaned down, and started the bath, turning it on as hot as she could. Abaddon frowned, letting out a disappointed noise between a mumble and a whimper.
"Water torture?" He whispered.
Katherine rolled her eyes, as she reached under the sink to grab the bubbles that she used to relax. He must really be growing on her if she was letting him use her bathroom and her bubbles. She would unpack all of that later.
"It's called a bath, Abaddon." Katherine corrected gently. "And I made it as hot as it could be, to remind you of the lava from hell... or something, I'm guessing hell has lava."
"Naturally." Abaddon agreed.
"Also, I'm putting bubbles in the water, they help me relax and I think you'll like them." Katherine explained.
Abaddon watched suspiciously as she poured the bubbles into the bath water. "Bubbles?"
"Yeah, you like to hide in the vents. You can hide in the bubbles." Katherine explained. This next part was going to be hard, but it had to be done. "Now I need to look at your shoulder."
Abaddon froze, looking toward the door, but Katherine was steps ahead of him as she blocked his way out. She should have brought the damn salt. Sometimes, unfortunately, the only way to get things done with Abaddon was to salt him in.
"I know you don't like it, but you're not taking another bath with all of your clothes on." Katherine explained crossing her arms. "And you'll be much comfortable with new clothes."
Abaddon sighed before attempting to unbutton his shirt, it was clear he was struggling with his left limb. Katherine walked over and met his eyes, asking for permission. He looked at her, and then down at his shirt before nodding.
She knew about the burn mark on his chest, due to him mentioning it in passing, but she had never seen it before. It was very hard to look at in person. The skin was pink and scarred, and clearly old. She didn't know if the crucifix that was burnt onto his chest had been large, or if it just looked large in comparison to his size.
She hadn't realized she had gasped or had any reaction until she saw Abaddon make a swipe at his eyes (was he crying?). He refused to make eye contact.
She would never know if who she was talking to was a mixture of two personalities intertwined together overtime, or if the boy was somewhere in there whispering to Abaddon. Either way, the scar had a dark history for both of them.
She knew that Abaddon had a lot of hatred for the body he was stuck in, and how 'useless' he deemed it. This was just another reminder of that 'failure'.
And she just had that reaction.
"I'm sorry." She said uselessly.
"S'fine." He mumbled.
She noticed something then, another scar, on his left shoulder.
"How did this happen?" She asked.
He looked down at where she was pointing, making sure not to touch. It looked slightly inflamed. Abaddon shrugged his right shoulder like it was nothing.
"It fell off one time, I think." He said.
She shook her head. "You lose limbs all the time, Abaddon. Just last week you managed to get your RIGHT arm taken off by a bear trap and we taped it back on. It looks perfect."
Abaddon looked up, scrunching up his face in a very child-like manner as if he were thinking.
"I think it was before you guys." He said suddenly. "When I had to do it myself."
She'd never thought about those times, because strangely, even though it had been only a year or so... It was hard to imagine not having him around. But there had been a lot of families, hadn't there? All of them had given up on him too… They probably hadn't bothered to tape a limb back on.
"How did you used to do it?" She asked, curious. It was kind of a shoddy job. No wonder it hurt, but it was his dominant limb. Putting it back on himself couldn't have been an easy task. Especially for little hands.
"Needle and thread." He said simply.
Something cold ran through her bones, and a heavy feeling settled in her gut. The thought of a child sewing his own wounds in the forest.
"Did it hurt?" Her mouth felt dry.
"A little." He mumbled. "I guess."
"It only happened once?"
"Twice." Abaddon corrected with a frown. "Right after Nathan left."
The feeling got deeper and heavier. But now there was another feeling, and it was one she hadn't felt since getting the news about her brother. It was one she thought she'd worked through in therapy.
Anger.
Because she loved her brother so much, so wholeheartedly. But she also knew him. He was a fixer, always needing to prove useful. She knew he had heard about Abaddon, and found him and brought him in. He probably thought that he could fix him, turn him into a proper non-feral little boy. One who goes to school and sits in chairs. One who doesn't climb in the vents and screams so loud that windows break when he just can't comprehend something.
But Abaddon wasn't a pet.
At the end of the day, for all intents and purposes, he was a child. And, since Abaddon had stayed so close to Nathan's body up until he became a ghost, some part of him cared.
He had been left alone with a dead body and a thread and needle to sew his own limb on.
"I should not have brought him up." Abaddon said suddenly, and she snapped her head up from his shoulder, wiping her eyes. "I apologize."
"No, It-It wasn't that." Katherine said quickly. "I'm-" She wanted to apologize, but when she met his large eyes, she knew he would never understand.
He wouldn't understand why it wasn't normal for families to give up on him so easily after taking him; he wouldn't know why burying him alive wasn't normal, or putting him in the lake wasn't normal, or even chaining him up wasn't normal (she was guilty of that, even).
"Get in the tub, and then I'll get some new clothes for you." She explained.
Getting Abaddon into the tub was actually less of a struggle than she thought it would be. She was expecting fighting, clawing, and maybe biting. She was expecting to have to go and get the happy hoodie again just to get him to calm down.
He grumbled when he lowered himself into the bathtub, unsure and a bit skittish. But then, Katherine moved bubbles toward him.
He put the bubbles on top of his head and then nodded affirmatively.
"This is pleasing." He said.
"Good, I'm going to go get you some towels and some clothes and I'll be right back." She said, her hand on the doorknob. "If you get out of the bathtub and run to vents naked, I swear to God, Abaddon I will soak you in holy water and you'll go into a salt circle for a week."
Abaddon glared at her from the bubbles, he was completely covered, and she could only see his eyes, but he gave her a quick nod.
Just like the car seat, she was glad she kept all of Ben and Esther's old baby stuff. She rummaged through her closet for the box where she kept all of Ben's old clothes.
She knew one day she would force Abaddon to take an ACTUAL bath. So, she had separated the clothes that he could maybe wear. It was concerning that some of the clothes were from when he was five years old, but Ben was a rather big child and Abaddon was incredibly small for a supposed eight-year-old.
She was also lucky that Abaddon wouldn't be picky when it came to clothes, as she saw a shirt that said: 'Proud Big Brother!' She settled for a pair of Elmo pajamas that were nice, fuzzy and warm. They would be easy to clean as she could see them being covered in yogurt or some foreign substance by the end of the day.
With the pajamas in hand, she grabbed a couple towels and made her way back to the bathroom.
She was expecting to find Abaddon gone and she would have to begin hotel search of the now unclothed but clean demon child.
But much to her surprise, he was still there.
He was sporting the usual, bubble beard that so many kids did and it made Katherine laugh. Abaddon looked at her, narrowing his eyes. "What is funny?" He asked.
"The beard."
Abaddon sighed, brushing it off his face. "I've always wanted to grow one."
"Is your shoulder feeling a little better?" Katherine asked.
"A bit." Abaddon shrugged, still only using his right shoulder, which quickly answered Katherine's question. He looked at the pajamas that Katherine had placed by the sink and pointed toward them.
"Who is that creature?" Abaddon asked.
"That's Elmo." Katherine explained, she needed Abaddon to actually put on the pajamas, so she continued. "He's... uh... A big bad monster. Real scary. Makes kids cry all the time."
Abaddon grinned, "Perfect."
Katherine was starting to believe her theory of the head injury because Abaddon actually let his hair be washed. But it was more than likely, the bubbles, because for all of his 'evilness', Abaddon was incredibly easy to distract.
Once he was out of the tub, in fresh pajamas and his hair wrapped in a towel, it was odd. He looked like a completely different kid, and not that small puritan child who apparently managed to get a hold of firecrackers (somehow) in the middle of the night and throw them at people's windows.
She took Abaddon down to kitchen, helping him on the counter where he sat and waited for her to find the grape-flavored tylenol that she was looking for. She was scared to give it to him, before she remembered she was talking about the same boy that drank an entire bottle of CLR.
Would tylenol even work? Maybe... He'd never had it before and he was in a human body. So, it was worth a try.
"Look at you, bud!" She heard Nathan say, making Katherine freeze. Her feelings from earlier were still fresh, but she wasn't going to mention it quite yet.
She smiled as she found the medicine and made her way back to the kitchen. Abaddon was still sitting in the same spot as he showed Nathan his pajama shirt.
"That's Elmo, he's from Sesame street-" Nathan explained.
"-And he's very evil and likes to scare children. Like I said." Katherine interrupted.
"Oh, yeah. Totally." Nathan agreed.
"And look at that, Abaddon, you actually have feet!" Nathan laughed, pointing down to his now bare feet.
Oh yeah, she had to get him actual shoes. Damn it.
"I've always had feet." Abaddon said, unimpressed. "How else would I walk?"
Nathan nodded. "And you're still the same Abaddon, who remains very literal."
Katherine poured some tylenol into the medicine cup and held it in front of Abaddon. He looked down at it confused, and slightly suspicious before looking back up at Katherine.
"This is grape flavored, and it might help you feel better." She explained.
Abaddon slowly took it in his hands, and Katherine thought maybe he would throw it. She had flashbacks to Esther taking her medicine, and all of the times she would have to hold her daughter down to get her to even take a vitamin. Unfortunately, Esther and Abaddon were alarmingly alike.
"This better not steal my essence." He mumbled.
Much to her surprise, Abaddon took it. He was quiet for a moment before speaking.
"It tastes nothing like grapes." Abaddon said quietly. "But I liked it. I want more of the beverage."
"It's medicine you can't have more."
Abaddon mumbled and then kicked his legs aggressively, eyes becoming red again (there was the Abaddon she knew). "I want more!"
"Abaddon, if your shoulder can scar and start hurting, then so can your liver." Katherine explained. "And I don't know how to fix liver cirrhosis on a boy from the 1700s."
Abaddon let out a dramatic sigh of defeat and flung himself back, lying down on the counter, mumbling to himself.
"Wait- he hurt his shoulder?" Nathan asked quietly. "How did he do that?"
"We'll talk about this later." Katherine said with a smile. "Right now, I'm going to brush Abaddon's hair-" She ignored the NO! in the background, "And go from there."
Brushing Abaddon's hair was what Katherine had expected the bath to be like. She thanked whoever was listening that she had recently cut Abaddon's fingernails.
On the bright side, he had started using his left arm slightly as he tried to smack the hairbrush out of her hand.
"Hey, look at that, you're feeling better!" She said.
"Cease this torture!" He screeched.
When she was finished, and Abaddon was turned away from her, arms crossed in petulance. She couldn't help but chuckle.
"You're like a cat, Abaddon." She couldn’t help but laugh.
He looked at her and sneered. He was clearly done with being carried around, and it was okay because she was done with carrying him around. "Can I go back in the vents now?"
"No." She said. "I'm actually letting you take a nap in here."
He snorted. "I don't sleep."
"Well, you're going to try." Katherine explained. "Even if you don't sleep, you can rest. I have a heating pad, and a weighted blanket. You'll like it. You like closed spaces." She pulled something off of the nightstand by her bed. "Also, I have an iPad for you, and I know you love that."
In fact, it was still sticky from the last time he got his yogurt covered fingers on it...
Abaddon sighed, shoulders sinking. He looked tired, and Katherine was convinced he might actually fall asleep.
It was odd, tucking Abaddon in with a heating pad pressed against his shoulder. When was the last time she had tucked someone in? Esther and Ben no longer needed her to do this for them. Abaddon wasn't paying any attention to her crisis as he paid more attention to the iPad, earphones a little too big on his head.
She turned away, as she closed the blinds, he would probably like it dark. She walked to the door, before turning back to Abaddon.
"Just let me know when-"
Holy shit... He was asleep.
Mouth slightly open, and both hands by his face- eyelashes resting on his cheeks. Katherine blinked a few times, pressing her head on the doorway. He looked nothing like the child who was possessed by a demon- just a little boy.
Someone had once carried him, and held his hand...
She shook her head before she could think about it too much.
Katherine could feel the coldness of Nathan near him before she could hear him talk. "Wow, you actually got him to sleep." He said quietly, impressed by the feat.
She nodded, before looking over to him. "Do you know where he was after you died?" She asked.
He paused to think about it.
"I found him at the bottom of the lake when I became a ghost." He answered.
She shook her head, turning her head to look at him. "Yeah, but before that. While you were gone. When you were dead and he was sitting next to you and waiting for you to come back."
His eyebrows furrowed, and he looked so sad that Kathrine felt guilty. What was she thinking? She shouldn't be making him feel worse. This wasn't his fault. But there will never be a time where she didn't feel a little angry about him leaving.
"He might act like he can take care of himself, but he really can't." Katherine said. "He was sewing himself back together." She swallowed back her sadness. "I'm sorry, Nathan."
"No, I'm sorry." He said. "I... Didn't know he even cared."
Katherine let out a humorless chuckle.
"I think he's still figuring out that he cares."