Uhngh...

Hiro groaned in agony as his senses started to come back. He instinctively tried to nurse his head, which felt like it was splitting in half, but he found he couldn't move his hands. He felt too weary to want to figure out why. Blinking furiously, he tried to keep his focus long enough to see where he was. It smelled like alcohol and cheap perfume. It was too dark to get a clear idea of where he was though, with only a dim street light with a couple of bugs flying around it. Hiro looked down at himself to see if he'd been injured. He wasn't hurt-except for his throbbing head-but his hands were bound behind him by a metal fringed rope and his neck was in a vise attached to the wall. For the first time since he'd woken up, he noticed that the vise was choking him. Gasping for breath, he struggled against the rope and vise, attempting to free himself.

A sudden glinting object came whizzing through the air, burying itself in the wall inches from Hiro's face. He stifled a scream, instead yelping in shock. He stared in awe at the dagger protruding from the wall a hairbreadth from his neck. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something was glowing. He tore his gaze away from the dagger and faced the light. It was the silver haired girl, eyes twirling hypnotically, slowly gliding over to Hiro. Hiro's eyes widened, and his feet scrabbled desperately on the concrete, trying to get away from her. There was a no possible way out of his binds. The girl floated over to Hiro until she was directly in front of him. Suddenly, she lost her goddess-like appearance and became and ordinary looking teen, but still with the glowing silver hair and eyes. She dropped to her knees and crawled over to Hiro. Hiro whimpered and backed up against the wall as much as he could. The girl spoke with the same sinister purr to her voice.

"Hello, dearie. I hope I haven't frightened you too much," she giggled, "I just thought you would be the perfect victim. You are indeed hot..." Her sinuous fingers trailed from his mouth down his chest and she gazed seductively at him.

Hiro shuddered in agony. "Stop, please! I'm too young! You can't!" It was obvious the last thing the girl was going to do was stop. She gave a small moan of pleasure and leaned even closer in to him. Hiro felt he was going to die of discomfort. Before he knew it, his jacket and shirt were being ripped off. He gasped in protest. He felt so vulnerable, so unprotected. His heart was pumping so hard, he was sure anyone within a mile radius could hear it. If something didn't happen in his favor soon, he knew it wouldn't be just his top half naked.

He tried pleading again. "Please stop! Please get off me! Let me go..." She just leaned closer, laying wet kisses on his neck. He recoiled. That had always been a sensitive area for him.

Hiro shivered. "Why are you doing this to me? Where do you gain anything from this?"

The girl stopped kissing him and put his face up to hers. "Where do I gain anything? My emotional pleasure and your emotional pain is enough satisfaction for me." Her breath smelt strongly of cigarettes and alcohol. Hiro involuntarily convulsed, sickened by this girl and what she was doing. She was about to go back to kissing him when a hissing noise flew through the air. The girl gagged and rolled off of him, hacking up blood. Hiro screamed in absolute shock. He felt even sicker than he had before. He stared at the girl who was flailing on the ground, clutching her throat. With a final gasp, her spasms halted and she lay limply on the blood soaked ground. Hiro panted in exhilaration. So much had just happened in the last five minutes, he was starting to wonder if it was a dream. No, he thought, this is real, and I have to find a way to overcome it. He was trembling, but it might have just been the cold. Hiro looked up at the sound of footsteps approaching to see Damaris, Jace, and Tony walking towards him. Well, more like sprinting. Hiro couldn't possibly have been more relieved. Damaris rushed over to him. From the black trails of mascara down her face, Hiro could see she had been crying.

She knelt down and gently grasped Hiro's shoulder. "Hiro..." she trembled. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have left you alone. I knew better. She was so powerful, you didn't stand a chance." Hiro could see worry in her eyes beyond the film of glittering tears.

Damaris took a deep breath in and out to calm herself. "How far did she get?" she paused to glance over at Hiro's jacket and shirt in a crumpled pile a couple feet away, "It seems we came here just in time, didn't we?" Hiro gulped and looked down at himself. His chest was still bare. A sudden gust of wind blew through the alley. He sucked his stomach in and wrapped his arms around himself to keep warm. His burns were still stinging, and he cringed when the icy wind pricked his skin. Damaris narrowed her eyes in concern.

She hesitated a second before speaking. "We should get you back to the camp." Hiro murmured in agreement. After thinking for a moment, he furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Where's Tadashi?" He looked up expectantly at Damaris.

Damaris flashed him a quick glance. "He's still in the hospital recovering. His injuries are really severe. Kishi suggested that we come back to check on you and she would stay with him."

Hiro shook his head. Was she telling the whole story? Was Tadashi going to live?

He sighed, "How did you know where I was?"

Damaris avoided eye contact with him. "The minute we saw that you were gone and had left behind your Sgian Dubh, we knew what had happened. There wasn't a hint of blood to signify a fight, so that confirmed that she had taken you. We got here as quick as we could. It wasn't hard to follow a trail of silver lights. We saw what she was about to do, so I did what I first thought of, which was to kill her. And since she is-was-hypnotic, it required a special poison I happened to have on me."

Hiro rubbed his arms from the cold. "Well, thank you... I'm not sure being...ya know...seduced...is really on my list of things I want to happen." He shrugged and grinned at Damaris.

Damaris had already grown fond of Hiro. Seeing him abused was killing her. She stared at him and suddenly realized why others were taking advantage of him. They knew he was a newcomer and that he wasn't much of a threat. He looked so innocent and naïve. Damaris knew exactly how she was going to fix that.

"Hiro. Ya know, you're missing something. Something fixable. Let's go back to camp and I'll tell you what I have in mind." She rose without another word, Jace and Tony silently following her. They hadn't said a word the entire time. Befuddled, Hiro heaved himself to his feet and slowly followed behind.

The walk back was cold and dreary. Hiro hadn't bothered to get his shirt or jacket, so he felt exceptionally frostbit. The path they were taking was cleverly hidden, probably because the now-dead girl had had to hide her abuse camp. It was horribly sinister and unnerving, but Damaris looked as tough as ever. Hiro was pondering the many possibilities of what Damaris might have meant when she said there was something fixable about him. What could possibly be fixable? Perhaps she meant she had to buff him up, or toughen up his personality. He figured he'd find out soon enough. He'd been so lost in thought, he hadn't realized they were at the camp. He had been automatically walking the entire way.

Damaris whipped around to face Hiro. "Ok so here's how it'll work. Tony is going to take you to a friend of mine, and she'll make some changes for the better. Tony is a jackass, but follow his lead this time." Damaris gave Hiro a firm pat on the back and vanished with Jace into the shadows.

Tony grunted at Hiro, "Come on, little wimp, this'll do you some good. Perhaps it'll take your wimpy-ness away." He gave a dry chortle. Hiro couldn't see what was funny other than the obvious jibe, and decided to ignore it. Tony sauntered down a street that was new to Hiro, and Hiro hesitantly followed. This street had a lot of graffiti littering the walls and trash piled up in the alley corners. To Hiro, the graffiti looked like tattoos you would see on the stereotypical thug. Tony and Hiro continued along the street until a bright orange light came into view. Tony sped up a little bit, obviously eager to ditch Hiro on someone else. Hiro quickened his pace until he was directly in front of the orange glow. It looked like some sort of store, but really run down and ghetto style. He looked up to read the sign.

Vivian's Tattoos, Piercings, and Dyes

Oh god... Hiro knew he was screwed.

Tony chuckled darkly, "Well, kid, looks like you're in for a treat." But by the look on his face, Hiro knew it was going to be the opposite of a treat. With utmost reluctance, he stepped inside. A tall woman with curly pink hair who had at least fifty piercings and seemed to be one big tattoo swaggered over to Hiro. To Hiro, she looked like a punk Nikki Manaj, but he kept his opinion to himself.

She smirked. "You must be the new Flame. Damaris told me about you, but I never caught your name. I'm Vivian, nice to meetcha."

Hiro nervously took her extended hand and shook it. "Hiro. Hiro Hamada. Um, did Damaris tell you I was coming?"

Vivian replied, "No, actually. This is a surprise," She stopped Hiro from interrupting, "I knew who you were from the description Damaris gave me. You're smaller than I thought you would be, though." Before Hiro could speak, she trotted over to a huge, black chair. The chair had manacles where the ankles and the wrists went on it. Hiro was instantly suspicious.

Vivian must have noticed the concern on his face. "This isn't a torture chamber, but some people see it that way. They are just for the involuntary customers we sometimes get," her gaze suddenly turned darker and slyer, "and you may be one of them. Better safe than sorry." She whipped a spray bottle out of her pocket and shot it at Hiro before he could make a move. Whatever she had sprayed at him, it smelt like an overpowering mixture of cologne and weed killer. For what seemed like the umpteenth time, dizziness flooded him, and he toppled over onto the marble floor, senseless.