ACROSS TIME

Elle's eyes caught Dominic's for a second, and she snapped out of her trance, "Kill me..." She whispered, "Kill me... I beg of you..." She soon faded away and was a souless doll once more. The only sign that Elle had control of her body for that short period of time was a single tear running down her cheek.

As they reached the podium her eyes met Thorns, she didn't smile, she didn't frown. She remained stoic.

Those words stung Dominic right in his heart, as if she had plunged a razor sharp dagger straight into the beating organ. Hot, bitter tears welled up in his eyes, as he tried his best to force them back down.

"You may be seated." the minister said. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join together Elle and Mr. Thorn in beloved martial bliss. May they spend the rest of their lives together in sweet, sweet romance. Now, before I pronounce you man and wife, I must...does anyone have any reason why these two should not be wed?"

This was it. Dominic could take no more, it was now or never.

"I DO!" he shouted, standing up. "Let her go Thorn or else I shall kill you again!"

Thorn growled with irritation, pointing Irving's finger at the vampire. "GUARDS! SEIZE THEM!" he shouted, as four guards rushed at Dominic, daggers in hand. "And you are coming with me!" he said, ordering Elle. He grabbed her wrist and drug her to his room, locking the door behind him. He was going to claim his prize.

"NOW!" he ordered, his voice booming. "Strip my, dear. It's time we broke you in to my love."

Fay rolled her eyes, "Kids..." She groaned looking at the four guards, this was childs play. She raised her hands in the air and vines shot out from the ground tieing them up and crushing them with ease.

~~~

Elle froze up, hearing Dominic's voice released her from Thorn's hold, "No..." She shook her head, "Not again," She cried. She had partial control of her body and her hand was taking off the red dress with a shakey hand, "I won't let it happen again!" She shouted ripping the veil off of her head and throwing it across the room.

~~~

"Come on," Fay told Dominic before she ran up to the door Thorn and Elle used to exit. She ripped on the door knob, it was locked. She couldn't pick locks like Irving. He had tried to teach her once, but she insisted upon distroying the door. Which is what she planned on doing now. Vines wrapped around the door, crushing it with ease.

Thorn back handed Elle as hard as he could, sending her sprawling to the ground below.

"You insolent whore!" he shouted, his voice deep with rage. "You could have had it all! Wealth, fortune, fame..and you choose to waste it away on this pathetic excuse for a vampire? I could give you the power he cannot! And yet you spit it away! Why?!"

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Dominic was right behind Elle, his heart thumping hard like an over-bearing drum. His rage had reached a boiling crescendo and he wanted to lurch for Thorn, tearing him apart in his now mortal body. But he respected Fay, almost as if she were a sister, and he would not want to cause harm to Irving.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The images were still coming left and right, each one seemingly more intense to the point where Irving felt like he was actually there watching this. Dominic was reclining against the headboard of his bed, running his fingers through her hair. Her lips had formed an air tight seal around his throbbing shaft, bobbing her head up and down as she passionately sucked on his cock.

"Mmmnnnggghhh...yes...just like that, my rose...yes....yesssssss....."

As Irving watched, his mind numb with misery, he saw something that did catch his interest. On the back of Fay's neck, there was no car, just smooth skin. He knew there was a scar from her days being a servant to the castle. If this really was Fay sucking off Dominic, she'd have a scar.

"Where's her scar?" he asked, finally speaking.

"What?" Thorn responded, seemingly distracted.

"Where. Is. Her. Scar? On the back of her neck! It's missing."

"I...I don't know what you mean."

"Of course you don't, you sunvabitch, this is all fake! She's not having sex with Dominic, it's you trying to mess with mind!"

Elle tried to get up she was so fixated on Thorn she didn't notice Dominic was behind her, "I... I don't care about being rich, I don't care about fame, I don't care about power," She told him, "I just want to live a happy life and be actually loved for who I am, not what my body looks like," She told him still trying to stand up.

Fay reached into her jacket. Thorn still didn't know that she was in the room. She was trying to prepare to perhaps kill her husband.

Irving ripped himself from the claws that held him down, and with fists full of anger, began to smash the various screens in front of him, each one showing the false image of Fay going down on Dominic.

"It's over, you bastard!" Irving shouted, as he tried to destroy the screens. "You lied to me and now I'm gonna kick your ass!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The look in Irving/Thorn eye's was pure hate, as he intended to strangle the life out of Elle for being so dis-obedient. But before he even got close, he immediately howled in pain, clutching the side of his head.

"GET....OUT....YOU....BASTARD!" he hollered, falling to his knees. With a violent cry from his throat, a red, swirling vortex of pure hate seemed to spew from his forehead, swirling till it took over the body of a guard running into check on the situation.

Exhausted, Irving passed out cold near Elle, the force of ejecting Thorn too much for him to handle.

Immediately, the guard/Thorn went for Elle, his rage blinding him to everyone else. He wanted to end her and end her now.

Fay reacted quickly pulling out her gun and shooting the guard in the back, he fell straight to the ground. The bullet went straight through his heart and out the other side, lodging itself in Elle's shoulder. She winced in pain but stood up, backing away from Thorn's new body.

Fay ran over to Irving and knelt down beside him. Resting her hand on his cheek she sighed and looked up at Elle, her arm was now matching the dark red dress she was wearing.

With a hellacious yell, flames erupted around the guard's body has Thorn's soul was finally damned to burn in hell for all eternity. His charred arm reached one last time for Elle, before burning to nothing but a charred cinder.

Irving woke up from his daze, feeling amazingly weak and barely able to move. He groaned as he tried to sit up, but collapsed back on the floor.

"Fay..." he said weakly. "Thorn....made me watch things. Horrible...things. Please....t-tell me...are you...sleeping with Lucy behind my back? Please...tell me..."

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Dominic rushed to Elle, cradling her head in his hands. Tears ran down his face and splashed on her cheeks, running down in little rivers.

"Elle..." he said quietly. "I'm sorry...I love you so much...I never meant to hurt you...this is all my fault."

Fay saw that Elle was hurt and immediately her maternal instincts kicked in and she put her marriage behind Elle's current health. She kissed Irving softly on the lips, "We'll talk about it later," She told him, truthfully, she had no idea what he had asked, "Elle's pretty hurt right now, I need to help her

She had pulled two things out of her, well, Elle's jacket. One of Irving's daggers and a vile filled with a strange liquid. She knelt down beside Elle and Dominic. Silver was a pure metal, and would severely harm anything not seen as pure in the eyes of God. Demons were on the list, but the reaction wasn't as sever as with a vampire.

"This is probably going to hurt, so, you might want to hold onto her," She saw Elle's eyes widen, she knew what was going to happen, "I have to get the bullet out of your shoulder, one it's burning you and two you'll heal around it," She told them, she then holded up the vile, "This, will heal it when I'm done and take away all of the pain."

"Alright," Elle said, Fay could tell that she was in pain, but Elle was a pretty good actress. Elle nodded and dug the tip of the blade into the entrance wound.

Even Dominic winced at the impromptu surgery he just witnessed. He clutched Elle's hand tightly and could tell by the twisted sneer of agony on her face that she was in terrible pain. If his heart could break anymore, it did so just now.

"She's going to make you better..." Dominic said, completely trusting Fay in her ways.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Irving wasn't even quite sure of what he had said honestly, as ejecting a eons old demon soul from your body can leave any mortal physically devastated.

"Right...go ask..." he said, smiling weakly after the kiss, only to black out again.

The peice of silver came out of Elle's shoulder and landed on the ground next to her. Immediately Fay shoved the uncorked vile and shoved it in Elle's mouth, the liquid dissapeared and so did the entrance wound.

She looked up at Dominic, "Lets get married," She told him is a serious voice.

Fay left the couple and walked over it Irving, she sighed and rested her head on his chest. She rested her hand on his cheek again.

Dominic just stated back at her, slightly stunned and in shock.

"Are...are you sure?" he asked. It wasn't so much he didn't want to spend the rest of his life with her, but more towards the fact he would have sworn she wanted nothing to do with him. And yet here she lay, asking for his hand in marriage.

"Yes!" he finally said, now shedding tears of joy. "I would love to!" and leaning in, kissed her sweetly and passionately.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Somehow sensing Fay's touch, Irving woke up from his state, yet was still weak and slightly out of it. He smiled at his beautiful wife, thinking she looked like an angel in his clouded vision.

"I...love you." he said softly. "I'm guessing...the good guys won?"

Elle smiled, "We should go find the priest," She sighed, "It's not like I'll ever be able to get married to you and have my family be there," She told him, sitting up. She kissed Dominic lightly, "Don't look so suprised, I was sick of waiting for you to ask, then we had some issues," She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder, "I want to be yours and only yours, until the end of time.

~~~

Fay nodded and sat up, "Yeah, we won and Thorn's dead," She wiped a tear from her eye, "Can you stand baby?" She asked.

The ashes that once was called Dominic's heart soared back to a full, beating organ as everything seemed to mesh together in a splendid symphony of bliss. His beloved, his Elle, was going to his...forever.

He hugged her tightly, pulling her body near his, his arms wrapping around her several times.

"Yes, yes, I will marry you!" he said joyfully.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Only...one way to find out..." he said. With a mighty groan, he stood up, holding to Fay for balance. It's legs wobbled like a new born dear, as the strength was slowly returning to him.

"I've got so much to tell you..." he said, looking into her eyes. "He...tortured me, but he didn't hurt me. At least physically. He made me watch all these things and..."

He shivered a bit.

"We'll talk about it later, hun."

Elle smiled and kissed him, "I've never seen you this happy before..." She whispered, before standing up with the tiara/ veil, "I should sell these..." She told him, "With the money we could get one of those penthouses towards the center of the city," She told him.

~~~

Fay sighed and held onto her husband, "Well, we'll talk about it when those kids fall asleep... Well Dominic's a vampire so he'll be asleep all day and Elle will most likely sleep all day with him," She said talking to herself.

"I just hope things calm down and we can get back to see the kids... I'm worried about them, Lucy's not the most mothering person, and I told her that if anything happens to send them to my mom... And I don't want Jillian or Alexander anywhere near that woman," She told him.

"You have no idea how happy I am, my beloved." he said, helping her to her feet. "I had thought for sure you were lost to Thorn's perverted whims. That you would become some sort of mindless sex doll for his twisted amusement. Needless to say, I am much relieved."

He caressed her hair, looking lovingly into her jewel like eyes.

"And yes, I believe if we sell this outfit and jewelery, we can and shall profit handsomely."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You know Fay...I was thinkin'" Irving said, his legs starting to settle down. "What's for us back in that time, anyway? I mean, besides our kids. All the stares, the whispers, the back talking. We both have reputations...I was thinking that, once we get our kids back...let's stay here, in this time. I'm sure Dominic and Fay will let us crash with them for awhile. We can get a clean start here, give the kids the life they deserve. They've got stuff here we haven't even dreamed of yet!"

Elle looked down, "Dominic... Does money really matter that much to you, before you made it seem so important, but, you don't need money to live happily... My family could barely afford to put food on the table for most of my life, but we were happy," She told him. She was rambling.

~~~

Fay sighed, "I don't know Irving, they'll feel so awkward here, but," She sighed again, looking down at the ground, "MY past basically brands them as inferior to most other people..."

Dominic smiled a bit, realizing he had been caught red-handed in his old money loving ways.

"My apologies, beloved." he said, still keeping her body close to his. "It's just...the thrill and rush of having you for the rest of my life has made me somewhat...dis-oriented."

He kissed her lips softly, running his fingers through her hair.

"I would like to marry you here, since we have the proper authority."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Exactly." Irving said, pulling Fay close to him. "I mean, those people are nothing but a bunch of narrow minded screw heads. Passing judgment so easily, yet they weren't in your shoes. Here...here we can give our children they life they deserve. Sure, we don't fit in, but we can over time."

Elle smiled and an idea hit her. She took Dominic's hand in hers, she was grinning and pulling him over to Irivng and Fay. She turned around.

"Irving, Dominic and I are getting married and I was wondering if you would give me away," She asked.

Fay looked at her rather strangely, "Didn't you get married enough times today?" She asked.

"I wasn't married today, I was almost, but not completely," She told Fay who laughed a little.

"Yeah, and why am I complaning? I had two weddings..."

Irving blinked a bit, completely surprised by the request, yet none the less flattered.

"Um, yes! Yes, Elle, I'd love to!" he said. He took a few steps ahead to the now horrified priest, sizing him up. He tried to make his voice sound like Thorn, though he failed miserably. "Now listen to me!" he barked. "You are going to marry these two here, understood? Now get ready, cause you got 5 minutes!"

The priest nodded and hurriedly scampered back to his podium, trying to calm his shaking nerves.

Dominic smirked, feeling his mood lighten. Something about marrying Elle put a smile on his face and put his heart at ease.

"Perhaps you would like to be the flower girl, Fay?" he said, actually attempting his hand at a joke.

Fay smirked, "I can do a little more then just sprinkle petals about," she told him, taking a few steps forward. She raised her hands up in the air, her body making a "Y". A very curvy "Y". Everyone, for the most part, had left the building, which was probably a good thing, the only people that were left was the four of them and the priest, and a few confused stragglers.

About a minute passed and soon the ground and celing began to crack, "You might want to cover your eyes and mouths," She told them.

Elle understood what was going to happen and hid behind Dominic.

Various forms of plants grew from the celing. She opened her eyes and closed her fist, causing the celing over them to crumble and collaps over them, the fall of Thorn's empire, but vines shot up and threw what would fall on the chappel area away from them. Moon light shone threw the cracks.

She looked at the mess, "I can fix this," She told them, waving her hand and buds on every plant opened up revieling flowers of every color under the sun, their perfume filling the air.

Fay smiled and turned around, "It... it's beautiful... Thank you," Elle told Fay.

Irving just stood on in shock, watching the spectacle. He knew his wife had amazing control of plants and vines, but this was beyond surreal. The retired thief just whistled in amazement, grinning like a school boy at his wife.

"Isn't she awesome?" he said to no one in particular.

A few moments passed, till everyone was set in their positions. Fay stood in front of the alter with the priest, with Do as Irving stood in the back with Elle.

"You look beautiful, Elle." Irving said with a smile. "I hope one of these days, when my daughter gets married, she looks just as good as you do."

Elle blushed, though it couldn't really be seen because she had the black veil down over her face, she hugged Irving tightly, she was crying, and for the first time in a while they were tears of happiness, "Thanks, and if she looks even remotely like Fay she'll be drop dead gorgeous, no matter what day it is in her life," She told Irving.

She frowned under her veil. So much had happened in the last two days she was a little overwellemed, and to top it all off she was getting married, she was happy, but still sad at the same time, this day was supposed to be spent with family, but she hadn't spoken with anyone she was relaited to in months.

"Um, I don't think they're gonna play 'Here Comes the Bride" anytime soon, hun." Irving with a laugh. "I think we scared most of the party off, so...."

He slung out his arm and offered it to her, standing just outside the entry way to the room.

"Care to join this old man?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dominic was nervous, and he didn't know why. Oh yes, of course he was happy, there was no doubt about this. But his nerves stemmed from the thought that he hoped he could be the husband Elle wanted from him, to make her happy no matter what the cost. He sighed nervously, adjusting the collar of his shirt a bit.

Elle smiled, "You're not old," She told him, she was frowning again, everything, except who she was marrying, was wrong. Her dress was the color of her blood, her veil was as black as the night, for the most part shielded her face. Her arm was bloody, and the worst part for her, her family wasn't here to see this.

She sighed a little, and took Irving's arm, "Lets go," She told him, smiling.