A/N I would like to say a few words…..This story…will have mature content in it, there will be gore…there will be death…and there will be sex…so…please…if you resent any of these topics don't read this. I'm warning you….I'm not kidding…

On a brighter note….THANK YOU SO MUCH TO THOSE OF YOU THAT REVIEWED..THEY MAKE ME FEEL ALL BUBBLY INSIDE!

Enjoy!

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"Did you get a look at the girl?" The voice crackled from over the phone, causing the listener to nod his head furiously before realizing that he couldn't be seen.

"Ya, boss. Really pretty little thing. Just a kid." He listened to the line and gulped as he heard the faint sounds of pleading and begging in the background. He heard as a gun was cocked.

"Good. You know what to do, Leo. Don't forget, I don't forgive failure." On this last syllable, Leo heard the gun as it went off followed by the distinct 'thud' thay only a body can make while hitting the floor.

"Y-yes, boss."

"Oh, and make sure that the girl gets our gift. I do hope she enjoys it." With those final words the line went dead in Leo's hands. Shakily putting the phone away, he tipped his glasses back down over his eyes and ran a shaky hand through his short reddish hair, wondering what the hell he had gotten himself into. Stepping back up to his bike, he threw the kickstand back with his foot and revved the engine before taking off down the highway, eager to be done with this whole situation.

*Other side of the phone*

The man in the pressed black suit stepped over the body that was quickly pooling blood at his feet. He sighed in disgust, sometimes he wondered how all the stupid goons came to him. Cleaning the butt of the gun with a pristine white cloth he turned to his assistant.

"Make sure the body is dumped. I want him to be unrecognizable, got it?" His assistant nodded once. There wouldn't be much more to take care of, he knew, because he shot the bastard point blank. The force of the blow had already taken out half of his face. Poor Marcus, he wouldn't ever get to see his pretty little wife give birth to their first child, smirking to himself, the man decided he would send her a nice card expressing his condolences for her husband's untimely disappearance.

Stepping out of the plain looking room that now reeked of blood and urine; he took a deep breath of fresh air. Plastering a smile onto his face he stepped out into the light into the waiting limo, he had work to get back to.

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"Eriol, help Sakura to the car. I'll be there shortly to take her home." Syaoran stepped back into the kitchen, checking his gun and phone, making sure were both ready to use in case of emergency. He could have checked them there in front of Sakura, but he didn't want to frighten her more than she already was and seeing him armed and ready to go might have been the last stone on the pile before she completely crumbled.

Readying himself, he left the house through the front door and rounded the driveway to where Eriol was reassuring the startled 19-year old. Smiling and nodding at Eriol, he walked to the driver's side and slid in behind the wheel. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself for however long this was going take before the girl was safe again.

When Sakura finished saying her goodbyes she rested back against the cushy seat and closed her eyes. She felt as Syaoran pulled out of the driveway and back onto the highway, waiting a couple minutes she couldn't stand the silence anymore. It left her to her thoughts far too much.

"Nice, car." She mumbled and glanced quickly over at him to see the quick grin that crossed his features.

"Thanks, she does me well." Patting the dashboard of his Challenger, it was fast and sleek, his kind of car.

"It doesn't seem like you could afford it on a cop's salary." The words were out before she could stop them, she took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, that was rude."

He chuckled a little bit, "That's okay. I don't afford it on a cop's salary. My family has been around for centuries, I was born in Hong Kong. My father was a cop and transferred over here as a liaison for the Tokyo Department on drug lords and the mob. I moved with him." He smiled a bit ruefully, "He died a few years back in a bust that went bad. Anyways, my family has a lot of money and now that he's gone I inherited all of it."

She smiled as he talked about himself, he seemed to be so quiet on the outside and she didn't know why he was opening up to her, but she thought it was nice. His voice danced over her skin and soothed her rattled nerves. "Why did you decide to be a cop when you don't have to? Why not do something else and live off your inheritance?"

He looked at her for a long moment, "I didn't want to be one of those people who sit around with their thumbs up their ass just because they have money. I decided I wanted to stop people from hurting other people, and what better way to do that than becoming a cop? I just get to live more comfortably than most." He wondered why he was suddenly so chatty; normally he was quiet and reserved and only said what was necessary. He chalked it up to the fact that she was traumatized and he was just trying to help her out, to keep her calm…yeah, right.

"This is my turn." Pulling off the highway onto one of the little exits that led to a town called Tomoeda, Syaoran took inventory of his surroundings, being sure to be positive they weren't followed. Certain that they weren't being tailed; he began the random seemingly aimless turns that twisted their way through the quaint housing district. He could tell that there was money here, a lot of it, for the houses he was driving through weren't small, but they weren't huge either.

"I know what you mean, about not wanting to sit around doing nothing. Mom and Dad died when I was six, they left housekeepers and nannies to raise me until I was old enough to figure out that I didn't want to be pampered and taken care of. I want to help people too, if I could only figure out what I wanted to do." She was looking out the window at the homes that passed by, recounting all of her memories that she held here. Her reality now was very very different from what it was that morning, compared to now, those memories seemed to be too bright for her, too pure against the violence that she had witnessed and the jaded view that she now carried with her.

Startled, Syaoran glanced over at her, "You didn't tell me that you weren't living with family. Do you live alone?" At her nod, he sighed, "Try and get a friend to come stay with you, being in a house all by yourself isn't ideal in this situation."

Pulling off into the indicated driveway, he parked his car and got out, following her up the front steps and after unlocking the door, into the entryway. Syaoran looked at her, "I'm going to have a look around and see what I can do to make it more secure, why don't you go change?" He suggested changing because sometimes it helped to change into clothes that didn't carry the memories.

She nodded and walked up the stairs leading to her bedroom as Syaoran moved towards the kitchen. Reaching the last step she felt a feeling of hesitancy, shaking her head she continued forward and saw that the door to her room was shut. That's funny; I don't remember closing my door this morning. In fact she was sure that she left her door open, her cat Kero needed to use the litter box so she never left it closed.

Swallowing down a feeling of sudden panic she reassured herself, Kero probably just knocked it shut on accident, you know how much of a ditz that cat can be. But still the feeling would not recede so, gathering her courage; she reached a shaking hand out to the knob. Steeling herself she twisted and pushed the door open.

The sight before her kept her feet rooted to the spot, unable to move, unable to scream, even though all she wanted to do was vomit. There, lying on her bed sprawled across the sheets was a young woman who could have been Sakura's twin. They shared the same waist length auburn hair, though the girl's was a few shades darker, and their facial features were so similar Sakura could have sworn she was looking at herself. The girl's throat had been slit crudely with a twisted ragged gash and her arms were tied behind her back at what looked to be a painful angle. The girl was naked, completely, from her dainty ankles to the slender curve of her mutilated neck with bruises across her porcelain looking skin, indicated that she had been abused before they finally killed her.

Through all of this she felt sympathy and compassion for the corpse resting on her bed, wishing there was something she could do to turn back time and take away this girl's misery. However, when she looked at the pale pink wall above her bed, her blood ran cold. The icy spike of fear shooting through her as she read the words painting thickly with oozing strokes of blood upon her wall, Like what you See? She gasped for breath, unable to call out for the handsome cop wandering the floor below her, nor able to back away from the ghastly sight in front of her.

Syaoran climbed the stairs quickly, looking for Sakura, "The lock on the sliding glass door has been pick-" cutting off sharply he saw the girl standing rooted to the spot outside of her bedroom door, looking even paler than she was naturally. Unable to see what she was looking at from this angle he briskly walked down the hallway drawing his gun as he neared the trembling girl. Glancing inside the room he stopped and took a deep breath before putting his gun away.

Turning he enveloped the girl into his arms, pulling her close as she seemed to crumble and fall apart, clinging to his shirt with a death grip and sobbing uncontrollably. She was shaking her head and every now and then he could make out a word, 'no' and 'why me' as well as 'poor girl.' Keeping her close to him he felt his heart tug, wishing he could take it all away, all the fear and death. He didn't have time to wonder about his sudden connection with this young woman as he pulled out his cell and quickly dialed for the police to come out to the house. He gave a brief rundown of the scene to the captain of homicide before flipping the phone closed and replacing it in his pocket. Seeing that Sakura was in no shape to walk he leaned down and gathered her in his arms, her hands clasped behind his neck as his arms cradled her back and legs.

He walked down into the living room and gently placed her on the couch, but as he tried to pull away her grip on his shirt tightened. Not seeing her let go of him anytime soon he folded himself onto the couch next to her, situating her body between his legs and once more winding his arms around her, comforting the young girl as she sobbed and cried.

By the time the red and blue lights started flashing in the front window of her living room; Sakura stopped crying and instead clung to Syaoran with all her might. She could smell his clean scent, pine and musk, and felt his muscled body as it cradled her in its arms. These feelings, of comfort and safety, were the only two things keeping her sanity intact. She lifted her head from the crook of his neck as the first police officer knocked on her door, quietly getting up she let the detective go answer it, bringing the groups of investigators into her home. Indicating that the body was upstairs on her bed, she resolved herself to answer their questions while Li was guiding the policemen up the stairs.

She didn't have to answer questions for long however, as Syaoran came striding back down the stairs and faced the officer that was currently asking her about what she saw. The detective told about how they had just gotten home and saw the body before promptly informing the uniformed officer that they would be leaving as Sakura wasn't safe here and needed to be moved quickly to avoid putting her life in jeopardy.

Grasping Sakura's hand, Syaoran led the way back out to his car, which had somehow not been blocked in by police cruisers as the new arriving cops surrounded her home just in case anything else were to pop out at them. Helping her into the car, he then strode around the side and once more slid behind the wheel before gunning it out of the disturbed town.

Cruising along the highway, Sakura glanced over at him and asked quietly, "where are we going?"

Clenching his jaw, he fought back the wave of anger at watching this innocent girl being turned into a pile of nerves and fear, he responded, "My apartment. We'll be there soon, and you can get some rest."

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They had made it to the elevator without incident, as well as to the front door of his apartment. Placing the key in the lock and twisting, the detective took a quick survey of his apartment and after assuring himself that everything was as it should be, he pushed the girl in front of him and closed the door before dead bolting it shut.

He followed her into the spacious living room and watched her as she sat down wearily on his couch, "I'll be right back, I'm going to get you something to wear." She nodded at him as he quickly left the room and shortly returned with a large shirt and drawstring pants. "They'll be too big, but it's the best I can do."

"They'll be fine." Standing, she took the clothes from him and followed his directions to the bathroom where she could change, not once meeting his eyes. "I'll be right back."

He waited while she went to change and set water to boil for tea, hopefully it would help her relax, if not he would have to spike something for her and he'd rather not drug his charge on her first night in his home. He leaned against the counter and heard as the door opened down the hallway followed by the quiet padding of her bare feet on the carpet.

Reentering the living room she placed her neatly folded pile of clothes, "where am I going to sleep?"

"In my bed, I'll sleep on the couch. There's only one hallway leading to the bedroom so it will be easier to protect you in case something happens." She nodded at his words and quietly sat on his couch. "Come here, I made some tea for you." She stood and took the offered mug quietly and sipped it.

"Thank you." She stood there, the steaming mug in her hands, saying nothing more and not looking at him.

"Look at me, Sakura." When she refused he set his mug down and stepped towards her, tilting her chin up with his forefinger he met her emerald gaze and fought down every lustful urge the rose at the sight of her, "You will be okay. This will all turn out alright. Try not to let it affect you."

This was apparently the wrong thing to stay as she jerked her chin out of his grasp, "Well excuse me for being human." Tilting her chin up, "Let me just throw on a song and dance and forget completely about that poor girl dead in my room." Her eyes flashed with fury, and he rejoiced at seeing the passion return back to her, seeing her withdrawn and defeated tore at him more than anything, but he couldn't ignore her automatic sarcasm.

"This isn't a game Sakura. These people feed on pain; they feed off of fear and if you show that they've gotten to you it will only get worse. These people are mean, really mean, and very very serious about hurting you." He met her emerald gaze with his own amber eyes and watched as her emotions flared and played across her face.

She stared back at him, taking in the features of the man who had saved her life, who had held her while she fell apart, and who now felt like he was taunting her. She hadn't noticed just how tall he was, she knew he was larger than she was by the fact that his shirt she was wearing was like a sack on her and she had to roll up the bottoms of the pants in order to be able to walk, but she had to look up, way up, to meet his gaze as he was easily 6'4", maybe taller. He was also muscular, his muscles could be visibly seen through the thin shirt and she had no doubts that his jean clad legs held the same strength.

She took in his wide shoulders and narrow waist and hips followed by his chiseled clean-shaven square jaw. She studied his strong cheekbones and fierce chocolate eyes under a mop of unruly dark-brown hair. He was so masculine compared the men she was used to seeing or the boys who would hit on her at school.

She rose to his challenge, "You think I don't know that? That I didn't clearly see that woman die today? That I didn't see that poor girl's body lying on my bed? Who knows what they had to suffer through before they finally died? And better yet, do you think that I was completely somewhere else when I was chased through that alley or when somebody shot. At. Me? Do you?" She let her anger take over her, this was so unusual but she had kept it back all day, the anger that someone had changed her life forever without her consent. She stepped forward, crowding him, "I am taking this very seriously, Li." She spat his name like a curse, unable to keep herself in check.

Syaoran watched as she yelled at him, watched as she crowded his space, watched as she displayed all the fury that she was feeling. With every movement she made, he wanted more and more to take her into his arms and kiss the hell out of her. When she nearly shouted that last statement in his face he could take no more.

Roughly grabbing her shoulders he pulled her the rest of the way towards him and leaned down, capturing her lips in a fierce kiss, effectively cutting off her tirade. She stiffened against him for a brief moment before melting into his embrace, raising herself up to him. His hands slid down her arms to circle her waist and pull her completely against his form as her own arms wound their way up and around his neck to twine her fingers into his thick brown hair.

They stayed locked in their embrace, neither able to pull away, each kiss becoming more heated as time went on. Unable to get enough of her, he titled his head to get a better angle and slowly teased her lips open with his tongue before plunging his tongue inside her warm mouth and claiming it for his own. She responded in kind, dueling with him as she clung to him, feeling the play of his muscles against her form.

Finally she pulled back and blushed furiously, unable to meet his gaze she stuttered out a quick, "I'm really tired." Before nearly sprinting down the hallway to his room and slamming the door shut. She turned and pressed her back to the cool wood and slid down to the floor, her knees pulled to her chest. Touching her tingling lips lightly with her fingers she gave a sigh, wow, what a first kiss! Giggling slightly she picked herself up and curled onto the mattress in the middle of his decidedly manly looking room. It was done in dark greens, green carpet, green bed spread, and chocolate walls. Burying her face in his pillow and smelling his scent, she relaxed, and wondered idly what would happen to her next.

Syaoran smirked down the hallway, not at all bothered by the fact that he felt something more for the young girl than he was willing to name at this point, but she most definitely would be the source of his curiosity for quite some time. His determination to see the innocent beauty safe increased tenfold when he realized that he truly cared for the girl and was resolved to see how far it would go between them.

Smiling, he sat down on the couch, ready to endure a long sleepless night of keeping watch over his new treasure, his cherry blossom.

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Haha…so…cranked this out all in one night….I hope you like it! Let me know! Review!