A/N: So by the title, we learn something about the late supreme.
Stuff gets heavy for Cynthia...
Happy reading!!
"Everyone may we have your attention," Michael spoke loud and confidently to everyone. Cynthia and Michael stood on the stage facing everyone; she felt so small it was odd for her usually she'd confidence like her husband. But this time, she was so on edge. What if God and his pals showed up? That was her main concern; she also just didn't want to see anyone in God's entourage. The woman knew how enraged she'd be if she saw them, and she didn't want to be. Not now anyway; she'd rather save that for the fight.
Everyone in the outpost quiets down and looks toward their King and Queen. "We know in the past months since our wedding. There has been a lot of apprehensions about our safety here in the sanctuary." Michael spoke,
"Until now, we didn't know enough about what is going on. But as of last week, we gained more information." Michael explains Cynthia looks out at the people eyes moving until they land on the table where Edward, Kayla, Madison, Charlie, and Madelyn sat with Pandora. There was a relief and panic brewing inside her. Relief that Pandora was still here and panic that something would happen while she wasn't in her mother's arms.
The past week had gotten worse for her. Pandora had to be in her arms or at least very close proximity of her, or she'd panic. At night Cynthia had a hard time letting her sleep alone, so she'd rock her to sleep in the nursery, and both of them, would fall asleep. Then Michael would go in and place Pandora in her crib and wake Cynthia, who would have a hard time leaving the room. But Michael always assured her that she would be fine and that they had to let her sleep alone or Pandora would get too used to cosleeping again and that it would be hard to get her back into habit.
But right now, the panic was getting worse. Just seeing all these people made her think, what if something happened? They could prevent her from getting to her daughter in time. What if they purposely got in the way? It was too much, so while her husband, talked she left the stage to grab her daughter, worrying him in the process.
Michael stopped explaining why it took them a week to talk to them and watched as his wife ran off stage. He realized what she was doing once she reached the table. He had a worrisome look on his face which Madison caught. She knew something was up with Cynthia from the moment they walked into the gathering room' and seeing Michael's reaction only made her think it was worse than she thought.
Cynthia reached the table standing in front of Kayla, who was holding Pandora. "I'm just going to take her." She said, trying to hide the panic in her voice. Kayla nods, handing over the baby. "Is everything okay?" She asked,
"Yeah, I just...I need Pandora with me." She said quickly; as she adjusted Pandora on her hip and walked back to the stage.
She steps back on the stage, taking her place beside her husband. Michael opens his mouth to ask if she is okay, but she stops him. "Lets just continue with the speech." Michael nods and turns back to their audience.
"As I was saying, we took the time to prepare what we wanted to say, so that we can give you all the information clearly." Everyone listened intently as he spoke. He was about to continue when a Korean woman with short dark hair asked a question.
"Will this explain how it is you arrived here after it already seemed like you came back from your trip?"
"Yeah," her wife said from beside her, "we thought you returned a week beforehand, then you show up last week. What was that?" She asked.
Michael nods, acknowledging the question, "Someone a warlock of sorts posed as me to get close to my wife and daughter." He explained, "Was it someone from the wedding?" Someone in the crowd asked.
Michael nods again, "I'm getting to that," he begins to explain what happened that night and everything; that they learned. He explains Ryan impersonating him and God. Everyone was shocked,
"Is Pandora okay?" Someone asked, "yeah, is she okay? Did they hurt her?"
"What about Mrs. Langdon; are you okay? Did they hurt you?" Another voice asked, "Mr. Langdon are you and your family okay?" Some others asked.
Everyone seemed concerned for them as they asked their questions. The questions brought Cynthia out of the daze that she was in. "Uh...I'm fine." She answered as she registered the question.
Michael looked at his wife; he could see there was uneasiness with her. "Love, do you need to walk away?" He asked; Cynthia shook her head no. "They have questions," she says, swaying with Pandora who was playing with the zipper on Cynthia's top.
Michael nods and turns his attention back to the crowd; he holds a hand up, quieting everyone. "We appreciate everyone's concern for us. All of us are okay," he says.
"But," he adds, "we have a lot of preparation for us. In five months on our daughter's birthday a battle will take place." He tells them, "we will take proper measures to make sure that you and your families are safe at the time of the battle."
"What if we want to join?" A man stood up and asked, "yeah? What if we want to help?" A bunch of other people started to ask. "We don't want to risk your lives more than we already have." Cynthia says, being brought out of yet another daze.
"But we stand with you, Mrs. Langdon," a woman speaks, "yeah, we want to help protect your daughter." Another person speaks. "Whatever you want, we'll do it." Someone says as they bow down, the whole room starts to bow to them offering their help in the battle. Or nearly the whole room offered to help others just bowed showing they were loyal to them.
Cynthia's eyes water at the sight. This many people wanted to risk their lives for their daughter? She looked down at her daughter, placing a hand on her small head and then up at her husband.
"She has an army," Cynthia says with a soft smile, "that she does." Michael says, pulling his wife and daughter close to him. "What do we do?" She asked, did they let the people who want to fight, fight? Or do they go against it?
"We let them fight, if they want to battle they can and if not we take measures to keep those who aren't fighting safe." Michael answers softly. Cynthia nods,
"For those of you who want to fight, you'll have to come see me in my office. I'll have you sign a sheet, so we know who all is fighting then we'll go from there." He tells them, "you can start signing up tomorrow." He adds, watching as everyone stands up again.
With that, they conclude the speech and step down from the stage, walking back to their table to get Charlie and Madison so they can siphon the magic from Cynthia and Pandora.
________
Kayla, Edward, Michael, Cynthia, Madison, and Charlie. All stood in the penthouse surrounding the kitchen island. "So how does this work?" Cynthia asked, "Well," Charlie begins, "I have to start by sensing their magic, so I don't siphon your powers. It's a little different when it comes to siphoning from someone who has their own power." She explains,
"So, you have to locate their magic and focus on it?" Cynthia confirms, "yes, and I practiced with Madi. I put a spell on her and then focused on that magic siphoned it,"
"Then things got hot," Madison smirks, making Charlie blush a little. "What happens after? Like will their spells affect you?"
Charlie shakes her head, "I'll only get stronger. Once I siphon the spell, it diminishes. What they did to you and Pandora won't affect me in any way." She explains,
"Okay, then lets start." She says, sitting down in one of the chairs Edward and Kayla had gone upstairs, not wanting to be in the way. The room is silent as Charlie places a hand on Cynthia's arm and one on her head. She focused on feeling their magic, and soon she was able to siphon. Cynthia could almost feel their magic, leaving her or that was in her head. It was relieving feeling to know for sure Pandora wasn't going to be hurt and that she would no longer be connected to Ryan or their spell.
Moments later, Charlie pulls away, "it's done," she says, "I know," Michael says with a smile, he could feel their connection again, and Cynthia could too. "How do you know?" Cynthia asked with a knowing smile.
"Our connection, I can feel it," Michael says; she shakes her head, "maybe it's in your head. Maybe you want to feel it because I don't feel anything." She says, messing with him,
"I know what our connection feels like." He says a matter of factly, he did know that, right? "I guess you have to try reading my mind then." She smirks,
Michael rolls his eyes, catching on that it was a test and she was fucking with him. So he looks at her, focusing on her mind...his eyes widen at her thoughts, making Madison and Charlie look at each other with an amused look. What was she thinking about to make the antichrist look stunned?
Cynthia sat with a smirk on her face. She was thinking of pegging him..in graphic detail, knowing he would be reading her mind. "Not what I was expecting," Michael said with a chuckle, making Cynthia laugh.
"What? What was it?" Charlie asked. Michael goes to answer, but Cynthia answers for him. "I was thinking of pegging him."
Madison and Charlie laugh, not expecting that to be what she thought of. They thought it was something like one of her weird insults.
"Okay, okay," Michael says, trying to be serious, "we get it she wants to peg the antichrist." He adds, rolling his eyes. Cynthia gets up, going to her husband. "Well are you going to let her do it?" Charlie asked with a quirked brow.
"He won't. He said that no one tops him. I think it was during the baby shower?" Madison says, looking directly at Michael with an amused look. "Speedy, I think whether or not I left my wife peg me is between her and I don't you think?" He questions amusingly. He definitely wasn't opposed to letting his wife peg him.
"Oh so you will let her do it?" Charlie chuckled. Michael presses his lips in a flat line. "Don't listen to them, baby." Cynthia says, waving them off as she chuckles pressing a kiss to his lips.
Michael returns the kiss with a chuckle of his own, "but will you?" Cynthia asked, pulling away, "we'll talk about it later." He tells her lowly, making her flash a mischievous grin at her husband.
"That's not a no ladies," Cynthia chimes with a giggle, making them laugh. Michael rolls his eyes, "how about we move on to Pandora now?" He says, glancing at the infant eating cheerios in her high chair.
Charlie nods and starts the process, "wait," Cynthia said, making her stop, "are you are this won't be too much power for you?" She asked concerned.
"I'm sure it will be fine." Charlie assures her, "can I proceed?"
Cynthia nods, and Charlie gets back to work. Michael wrapped his arms around his wife as they watched Charlie work her magic. They felt so relieved at this moment.
"Would you look at that?" Michael said, caressing her arm, "Hmm?" Cynthia hums, "the bruise, it's almost completely gone." He tells her, and she looks down at her arm smiling. It was finally healing by magic.
________
Hours later, both Cynthia and Pandora were free from the spells placed on them. Madison and Charlie were still over. They Kayla and Cynthia sat in the kitchen. While the guys were upstairs doing something which was taking forever.
Cynthia sat with Pandora, zoning in out of whatever they were talking about for the past 45 minutes. "They've been up there a while." Madison said, bringing Cynthia out of her daze,
"What?" Cynthia asked, "they guys, they have been upstairs a while." Kayla says.
"Oh, yeah, they have been." Cynthia says, looking at the stairs with furrowed brows. "Are you okay, Thia?" Madison asked, "you've been in out for a while now."
"I'm fine." She assures her with a smile, "Are you-" Cynthia cuts Madison off asks she begins to ask, are you sure? "Mads, I'm fine. I really wish people would stop asking that." She says with a frustrated sigh.
Madison looked at her unsure but didn't press for more. The women talked more, laughed enjoying each other's company. But it was Kayla's face that stopped their laughter; her jaw dropped in shock.
"Kay...what is it?" Cynthia asked, then she saw Madison and Charlie, who had shocked yet amused faces. "Guys!" Cynthia says, not locking back yet. She was sitting her back toward the door that Edward fixed. While Charlie, Kayla, and Madison were the opposite of her.
"Turn around." Charlie said, "wait!" Madison sad before Cynthia did, "I'm taking Pandora from you really quick." She said as she got up, taking the infant. Then Cynthia finally turned around, gasping at the sight.
Both Michael and Edward cut their hair, and they were shirtless, only wearing a pair of sweat pants. Revealing their toned frames and Edwards tattoos that Cynthia was surprised to see.
Cynthia gets up, shocked, and walks over to her husband, and without saying anything, she yanked his hair. "Ah! What the hell?" Michael asked, "It's not a wig?" Cynthia laughed, "No," Michael laughed. Meanwhile, Edward was laughing hysterically beside him; he wasn't expecting that.
"Michael! You cut your hair!" Cynthia exclaims with shocked laughter, "yes, that much is obvious Dear,"
"I told you, that you didn't have to do that." She says, dragging her finger through his hair. "I chose too," he said, holding her wrists in his hands. "I wanted too," he says, kissing her left hand, "I had to do this to make sure my wife wasn't scared of me. Okay?" He says, kissing her right hand.
"But I'm no-" Michael cuts her off, "okay?" He says again, "okay," she nods. "I love it, by the way." She adds, kissing him. "See man I told you she wasn't going to round kick you for cutting your hair." Edwards said, placing his hand on Michael's bare shoulder.
Michael only chuckles as Kayla comes up to them, "okay. We know Michael cut his. Why did you cut yours?" She asked Edward.
Edward shrugs, "he needed emotional support after the sacrifices he made tonight." He says, making everyone laugh, "and you know what they say bros before hair."
"No, Edward. They don't say that," Kayla says, "but you look, really good." She says,
"Another question." Kayla says, "what is with the no shirts and grey sweats?"
"We needed to make an entrance." Edward shrugs, "why? Are there complaints?" He asked,
"Oh, I don't think anyone is complaining," Cynthia smirks,
"No complaints here." Madison and Charlie say in unison, "but we might get one." Cynthia says, "why's that?" Michael questions.
"Our daughter knows you with long hair. She might have a complaint." Michael chuckles, "ready to find out?" He asked, so they head, over to the kitchen with Kayla and Edward tailing behind. Michael stands behind the chair that Cynthia sat in. While his wife grabbed Pandora from Madison.
"Wanna go see Daddy?" She asked, "dada," Pandora clapped in response. They reach Michael, and carefully Cynthia hands the infant to Michael.
Pandora examines Michael, furrowing her brows as she takes in his new appearance, "no." She says, waving at his hair, making everyone laugh at her reaction.
Then she started to cry; she was confused, "It's okay, princess." Michael coos bouncing the infant, "daddy's here. We don't need the banshee screams, it's okay." He continues to soothe his daughter, and she starts to calm hearing his voice.
"Aww," Madison and Charlie chime, watching their interaction, "that makes me want a baby," Kayla says, "what?" Edward asked, shocked at her words.
"Are you guys next?" Cynthia asks, wrapping an arm around her husband's waist. Edward chuckles, "we need to talk first. But maybe..." he said, looking to his girlfriend.
"Well you guys would make wonderful parents, and would have beautiful children." Cynthia says with a smile, and for the rest of the evening, the group hung out together and it felt good minus Cynthia's zoning out.
________
A while later, Cynthia was upstairs trying to get Pandora to sleep while Michael walked Charlie and Madison out.
"Thank you Charlie, for helping my wife and daughter." Michael said, "of course," she said, "anything for you guys." Michael nods, seeming nervous, "can I ask you something?" He asked, confusing both Madison and Charlie.
"If you're about to ask my girl out because I will kill you dead for stealing what's mine and hurting my best friend." Madison says, making Michael and Charlie laugh, "no, it's about Ryan."
Charlie groans he wasn't her proudest moment, "Yeah?" She asked, "you two have a history, correct?" Charlie nods, "is there anything he might have mentioned in your time together?" He asked Charlie thinks for a moment they had a lot of time together.
"Not that I can think of." She says, Michael nods, "okay, that's all I wanted to know."
"You wanted to make sure I wasn't with him then, like on his side?" Charlie says, catching on to him, "yeah," he admits, "no. I didn't even know he was involved with that." She assures him. He was about to let them go when Madison says something.
"Michael, how's Cynthia doing, really? I noticed her zone out a lot."
Michael sighs, "not good, she hasn't cried, or spoke anything about what she did." He explains they had told them what happened with Gallant and Alex in more detail than they told the sanctuary. They simply told the members of the outpost that Gallant and Alex had been executed for betraying them.
"She keeps saying she's fine, but she's not. Cyn is zoning out and panicking if Pandora is more than three feet away from her. I think it's building up inside her now."
"I assume you tried talking to her?" She asked. Michael nods, "she insists that she's fine everytime or it starts an argument."
"Oh fuck," Madison says, "what?" Michael questions, "I know Cordelia told her. But did she tell you why her memories and ability
to get visions were taken away?"
"Because she killed Fiona and Hank and was really distraught afterwords, and she thought that killing would unleash what she and John Henry locked away."
"That's what she told Thia?" Madison asked, "is that wrong?" Michael retorts,
"Well, most of that is true." Madison said, "what do you mean?" Michael asked, growing irritated, "Thia was distraught, but shortly after she killed, them she shut down like this. She would zone out, insist that she was fine, and snap if people would push. She even killed Zoe for pushing. Cordelia brought her back, and Cynthia never knew."
Michael shook her head, "So her mother still kept things from her? Even after everything, she couldn't tell her the whole truth?" He says annoyed, "and you knew this but didn't say anything?" He asked.
"I thought she knew! Honestly, Michael. Cordelia said that she told Thia, I wasn't aware that it wasn't the full truth. But when I noticed how she was today. It made me think back to that time and if there is one thing I know about Thia, it's that she wouldn't want to go through that again if she knew everything." She explains,
"You're right," Michael says, "she would be a lot more panicked. She'd be afraid that she would hurt me, you guys, Edward and Kayla, or Pandora."
Charlie looks between Madison and Michael, "what do we do?" She asked.
"We do nothing," Madison says, "Michael does. She listens to him there's a lower chance she'll snap if it's Michael that talks to her."
Charlie nods, "and you're going to tell her what Madison said?" She asks, "of course, I think she should know."
The women nod, and by his surprise, Madison hugs him; she and Charlie were also surprised. She wasn't much of a hugger.
Michael looks at her confused; as she pulls away. "I'm so glad she has you. You are so much better than you know, you just did something her mother the supreme couldn't even do." She said, and she meant every word. Cordelia told the other witches or at least some of them like Myrtle, Zoe, Madison, Avery, Queenie. But could never tell Cynthia.
Madison wished she had told, but she didn't think Cynthia would believe her, and she was afraid of what would happen if she did tell. She had been threatened by Myrtle once about what would happen if she slipped up.
Michael nods and smiles, "Thank you, Madison." He said, "now I better be checking on my wife. I have a feeling things will be a bit rough tonight."
"Alright, goodnight Michael." The girls say, "oh and Speedy, thank you for telling me about what happened with Cyn and what Cordelia withheld." Madison nods and mutters a soft, of course, and with that, she and Charlie left.
Michael closed the door and went upstairs. Edward and Kayla were already in their room for the night.
He goes up the stairs nervous either tonight, they were going to have a huge argument. Or she was finally going to talk. Either way, his wife would be a mess, and he wasn't ready to see her like that.
Michael was about to enter Pandora's room but stopped when he heard Cynthia singing. He was standing at the wall beside the doorway.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine," She sang, "you make me happy when skies are grey." Michael moved to stand at the doorway, leaning against the wall admiring the loves of his life.
"You'll never know dear how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away." Pandora was already sleeping, soundly cradled against her mom's bare chest. Cynthia must've nursed her. It seemed as if she fell asleep in the middle of the feeding.
Cynthia was looking down, admiring her daughter as she sang the last few verses of the song. "Please don't take my sunshine away." She sang her voice getting weaker,
"Please don't take my sunshine away," she ended the song, and her voice broke, tears fell at the thought of losing her daughter. It told Michael she wasn't only singing. She was praying. Praying that no one would take her sunshine, her baby, away from her.
"Cara Mia," Michael said from the door, noticing her crying, "Michael," she said he walked in sitting on his heels in front of her. "You're crying my love,"
"I am?" She didn't even notice she was that out of it. She hadn't noticed that she was crying. "You are," he says, bringing his hand to her face wiping her tears away.
"Oh," was all she said, and just like that, her tears stopped she was pushing the feelings away again. "Love..." Michael said carefully, "we need to talk."
Cynthia sighs, looking down at Pandora, "I know...but I can't."
"Why?"
"It will hurt. It will hurt so much, and I don't think the pain will stop, if I talk." She explains this was more than he got in a week, so this was progress.
"Baby, I know it will. But I am here, and I will be here every step of the way."
"No, Michael," she said, "I'm not giving you a choice. I need to tell you some things. And we need to talk about everything."
Cynthia could tell there was no out, and frankly, she had the energy to keep fighting it. "Fine," she mutters, "what do you need to tell me."
"No, love. Let me put Pandora to bed, you go wait in our room."
"Michael..."
"Cyn, we go through this every night. You know it's best, and like always her door will be open."
Cynthia sighs, letting him take Pandora. As soon as he has her, she gets up, zipping her red top, and heads to their room. When Cynthia gets to their room, she changes into something more comfortable.
She changes into one of Michael's Teeshirts and sits on the bed. Moments later, Michael walks in, watching as she picks at her fingers.
"What do you need to tell me?" She asked, glancing up at him. He could see the brokenness in her eyes, and he hated that he had to break her more, but she needed to know.
Michael sighs, climbing in bed beside her; they sat on top of the blankets for now. "Cyn, you know how Cordelia took your memories away from when you hurt Fiona and Hank?" He asked Cynthia furrows her brows, "yeah,"
"And you remember what she told you? What you told me?"
"I do, Michael. What is going on?"
"There was more than what she told you." He tells her carefully, "what do you mean more?"
"Madison just informed me that, after you killed Fiona and Hank, you were distraught, as Cordelia said. But much like now, you pushed it away rather quickly. You zoned out, insisted that you were fine, and snapped if someone tried to push you." He told her,
"And this is happening now." She states, "yes, but there is more."
"Like what?" She asked, "during that time, you killed Zoe, she tried to push you, and you snapped, killing her. Cordelia brought her back to life and made you forget."
Cynthia gasped, "oh my god, I was like I am now?" She asked, almost scared. Michael nods; he could hear the fear in her voice as she realized that if she continued down the path of pretending everything was fine, she could hurt someone else she cares about.
"I killed Zoe, and my mother still couldn't tell me the truth?" she asked, "Yes, love." Michael answered simply, "Madison thought you knew. Cordelia said she told you. And for the longest time, Madison thought you knew the whole truth. It wasn't until she saw how you were today that she realized." He explained,
Tears started to form everything was hitting her, "I-I can't be like that, what if I hurt Pandora, or you, or anyone else I care about here?" She asked, "I won't let that happen. That's why I am telling you. I need you to see how bad this is before it gets worse." He said,
Cynthia nods, "I killed my best friend." She says, "I-I killed Gallant, and I don't know why it hurts so much."
"Because you cared. He was your best friend. He was the only one to care about you while we were apart." He explains, pulling her into his arms. "But I don't feel guilty for killing the witches when we massacred them, or Mallory, or having Drake killed."
"You never liked Mallory, or the other witches remember? And Drake was and still is a fucking ass." Michael says, "love with Gallant it was different. He played you or us better than anyone has. It was the most unexpected."
Cynthia nods. She understood why this was so different she cared deeply about Gallant. She gave him a second shot at life because she wanted better for him.
"He never cared." She sniffled, "he just used me. Pretended to care as everyone else did. I don't know why I trusted him. It was stupid to trust anyone other than you." She cried. He had to admit the last part made his heart thump; wildly she thinks he's the only person worth trusting.
"You trust Madelyn, Madison, Charlie, Edward, and Kayla. And Lilith. So I'm not the only one worth trusting." He says, bringing the other people she has to her attention.
"I trust them, yes." She said, looking at him, "but never as much as I trust you. "They can give up on me at any time like Gallant, and my mom and dad did and everyone else in that fucking coven." She says, "but you never will. You'll never get tired of me and make me feel like shit like they all have. Because you Michael care so much more than anyone else ever has." She expressed, he could feel his heart swell.
"Baby, the friends or family, I guess is a better name for them." He says, "The family we have now will never do that. Look at how much Edward cares. He took care of you and our daughter while I was away both times. Kayla has been worried sick every day, Charlie just helped you and Pandora, and you guys had it out at the beginning, and Madison." He says, pushing her away so he can look her in the eyes.
"She was the first person you loved. She's your real best friend, the one there for you as soon as you need her, unlike Gallant, who wasn't present with you, the one who wasn't really there when you needed him. Not like Madison was before you stopped being friends. and when you became friends again." Cynthia nods, crying harder, "and Madelyn, love, you've said she's like your mother. She risked her life so our family would be safe."
"These people will not give up on you. Gallant was a lousy friend, a piss poor excuse of a person." Cynthia hugs him crying into his neck, "Michael, I hurt him and Pandora was in the house the time." She said bringing it back to killing Gallant.
"What if this happened when she was older, and she saw? What if would have hurt her?" Cynthia was genuinely terrified of the scenarios in her head. "She would think that I'm a monster." She cries.
"Baby, but she didn't witness it. You did it for her. Gallant was willing to hurt her just because he wanted me." He said, "and love, you never would hurt our daughter you love her way too much, and she loves you."
"I was the reason they got close to her because I wasn't smart enough to see through Ryan." She tells him, "what if because of that our daughter died?" She questions.
"My love, stop blaming yourself. It was not your fault. With everything you went through and everything we know about magic it makes sense you didn't see through it." He reminds her, "and stop thinking about our daughter dying. It's not going to happen, I promise you that." He assures her.
Cynthia cried and cried, holding on tight to her husband. When five minutes passed, and she quieted down a bit,
Michael asked, "how are you doing, Cara Mia?"
"I'm okay," she said, "Cynthia..." he says carefully, "no, Michael, I might be okay, but I'm not fine at all." She admits, moving her head to look at him as more tears started to flow. She wanted to talk more but right now she couldn't. Michael knew that and he was ready to listen whenever she was able to speak more.
A/N: Okay, so the boys got a haircut!! And Cynthia finally broke, now that the magic was siphoned she can dream of Lilith so expect to see her soon!! Until next time ave satanas!!