Disclaimer: I do not own Human Target and intend no copyright infringement.

WHO'S CHEATING WHO PART 7

...If you're going thru hell...keep going.

When Ilsa got back she didn't see Chance anywhere. When she walked over to her office to finish everything, she could hear faint sobbing from his loft. She set her things down and walked up the stairs. When she got to the top she wasn't prepared for the sight before her. Chance was seated on the floor with his back against the couch. Beside him was a glass full of brown liquid. He looked like he just walked through hell….five or six times. She approached him slowly. Before she could say anything, he took a drink and handed her the manila envelope she gave him earlier. "Open it. Your baby's father sent you something."

Ilsa opened the folder and pulled out a letter. She started reading it:

ILSA,

I HOPE ALL HAS BEEN WELL FOR YOU. AS WELL AS IT CAN BE ANYWAY. AFTER GETTING ROUGHED UP BY ONE OF YOUR CREW MEMBERS I REALIZED YOU TRULY ARE GETTING YOUR MONEYS WORTH. I SHOULD BE IN PRISON…BUT….SURPRISE….I AM OUT. I KNOW, YOU'RE PROBABLY THINKING ABOUT CALLING THE POLICE, BUT DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME. BUT I WANTED YOU TO REMEMBER SOMETHING. I HAD YOU. YOU WERE MINE. AND WE CREATED SOMETHING. THAT BABY GROWING IN YOU IS MINE AND I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO MEETING THE NEW ADDITION.

-CAPTAIN HARMEN

P.S. TELL CHANCE HE LOST.

She placed the letter back on the table and looked down at Chance.

"It came anonymously. Harmen must have had an inside man. He's out of prison." He stood up and wiped his face. He just stared at her for a minute. "Ilsa why? Why did it have to be like this? I hate knowing what he did to you. Why did it have to be like this…and now. Now you're carrying this maniacs baby." He was sobbing now.

She wanted so badly to comfort him, but there was nothing she could do. She reached out to him but he stepped back. "Ilsa…no…I can't do this." She looked at him puzzled. "I can't be by your side anymore. This playing house….this baby…isn't mine. I can't go through with this. You need to go home...now." She wasn't sure how to react. He had been with her every step of the way, and now he was asking her to walk away. She watched as he went back to his bedroom and left her standing there. She wasn't sure what to do. Whether or not to try and talk to him or just leave. She knew it wasn't his responsibility to take care of her, so she decided to leave. She hurt inside. She cared so much for him, but could never make that final step. She was content to lay in his arms, sleep with him and confide in him. But she couldn't give herself over to him. She slowly walked down the stairs and into the elevator. It was going to be a long night.

...

When Ilsa finally arrived home, she turned on her stereo and sat down. Through sounds of Thao Nguyen Xanh, she cried. She couldn't understand what was going on in her world and what her next step was going to be. As the violin played throughout her penthouse, she wondered if this was the end for her. Should she bring this baby to term? Was it going to be worth the struggle on her own? That was the problem, she was alone. London was home and if she thought there was a point to go forward, she would have to go there.

Thoughts were racing through her head and she couldn't stand it. She walked upstairs and started running a bath. She undressed in haste. She wondered…how could he stay by her side for this long and then suddenly walk away? She couldn't make sense of it. She didn't want to.

She stepped into the bathtub. The water was scorching. She forced herself into it. As the water seared her flesh she cried out in pain. But her tears were for Chance. If he were there, he would have been beside her before she could open her mouth. He would have comforted her and soothed her pain. He would make it go away.

She reached out for a washcloth and soaked it in the water. When she brought it up to her face the steaming hot water burned with every inch it covered. It burned her eyes and lips and instantly dried them out. The salt from her previous tears stung her newly chapped lips.

She looked down into the water at her legs. They were turning a bright red from the scalding water and she dare not move them for fear of further pain. She felt like she deserved this. She needed to punish herself for letting Harmen hurt her in the first place. She wanted to feel the pain that Chance was feeling and the suffering he was enduring having to watch her walk around like this. She was damaged goods, and he knew it. He wanted nothing to do with a woman who chose to forget about what it meant to have a heart. He would have died a thousand times for her. Been tortured for the rest of his life…and even given her the life she always wanted. But she chose a different road. She chose a man she thought would respect her. It turned out, the man she thought she would like…was the biggest mistake of her life.

When the water turned cold, Ilsa pulled herself out. She was delicate not to make any quick movements. Her skin was hurting now. The water seeped into her bones and instead of relaxing her, it caused excruciating pain. When she exited the bathroom, she got a cold chill down her spine. For as hot as the water was, she could still feel it. She thought she had washed away Chance. At least for that day. She walked over to her dresser to get dressed. As she rose up, she could feel cold steel against her hip. She couldn't scream. She knew it was a gun against her.

A cold hand snaked up and around her neck and the cold dry lips of a man on her ear. "Ilsa." He hissed. "I couldn't wait to get my hands back on you. I hope you got my letter. I hand wrote it just for you. I ever rubbed the cologne you liked so much over it so you could remember what it was like that night." He ran his warm wet tongue over the inner flesh of her ear. "You taste as good as I remember." He rubbed his hand down her neck and over her breast. She began to sob. "I wonder if you feel just as good?"

He kept moving lower and reached into her panties. It was happening all over again. Only this time, she couldn't see her assailant. Before he went any further, he stopped. "I almost forgot, we have a third guest." To Ilsa's relief, he removed his hand and brought it back to her stomach. She felt as if this was at the same level of violation as it was having his hands in her pants. He opened his hand wider and kept rubbing. "I'm glad I am going to see what I did in person. How is the little tyke? Not too much trouble I hope?"

Ilsa continued to sob and started to cry. He went back to her ear. "Shhh, don't cry. You know….I spared you? As much as I wanted to spray your brains all over the bathroom, I figured your maid might be a little upset when she came to clean tomorrow." Ilsa finally got the courage to speak. "Please, I don't want to get hurt again. Just leave me alone." He tightened his grip. "On the contrary. I only want you to take a little trip with me."

….

"…..but Ames."

"Chance, are you a complete moron? You know….that is exactly why men are so stupid. They are so dense and need slapped around a few times to get a clue!" Ames was waving her arms around now.

"Ames look. I can't take it anymore and I am not ready to stop my life for her. I asked you over to give me some advice…from a female perspective."

"Well here is your advice. You are an ASSHOLE. A complete ASSHOLE! Even if you don't want to be a part of her life…fine. But you don't push a pregnant woman away. She needed you….at least as an equal. Just like she wanted to be in this job. How can you just go out with her, sleep in the same bed even and then turn around and do something like this?"

Chance hung his head. He knew he may have spoken too soon to Ilsa. The truth was he was hurt. He didn't want to be a part of the life she had to lead. "What am I supposed to do then?"

"Hello! Call her. Go see her. Something! Don't be a jerk!"

"Fine." Chance grabbed his cellphone and punched in Ilsa's number.

As Ilsa tried desperately to catch her breath, her cell phone rang. The man turned around to her night stand. "Walk with my baby." He walked her over and picked up the phone. It read Christopher Chance. He smiled and answered it. "Hello." He sneered as he waited for Chance to answer back. "What's wrong Chance? Cat got your tongue? Well I would love to put Ilsa on the phone, but she's a little…tied up." There was still no answer on the other line. Harmen looked at the phone and had seen Chance hung up. Before he got his name out in the first place, Chance was already in his car.

He tightened his grip. "Put some clothes on…now!" She quietly obeyed and got dressed. The entire time, Harmen watched her, never lowering his gun. When she finished, he pointed towards the door. When they got outside, there was a car waiting for them. He shoved her in and the driver sped off. Just then, Ilsa's phone rang again. This time, he made Ilsa answer it. With a shaking hand, she answered it. "Hel…hello." Chance's heart leapt in relief that he was able to hear her voice. "Ilsa, I'm coming for you. I swear, he will not hurt you again." Before she could answer, Harmen grabbed the phone from her. "Look Chance, Ilsa would love to continue this conversation but we have other plans. Unfortunately they don't include you."

At this point, Chance had violated every traffic law on his way to her penthouse. His grip on the steering wheel tightened tremendously when he heard Harmen's voice. "You listen to me…if I see so much as a scratch on her, I swear I will do far worse to you than what Guererro did." Harmen screamed back into the phone. "NO CHANCE, YOU'RE GOING TO LISTEN TO ME. I AM CALLING THE SHOTS!" Ilsa had closed her eyes, hoping this was all a bad dream. She could see the veins rising from Harmen's neck as he screamed into the phone.

"Go to pier 13 at the docks at 3:00am sharp. There will be an envelope with instructions. I advise you…..don't bring any law enforcement. Otherwise, you will receive a small piece of Mrs. Pucci every week for the rest of your life."

Chance knew that he would most likely leave the country. And Ilsa would most likely no longer be a bargaining chip. He had no need for her. It wasn't the money. It was the spite. Harmen hated them all. Most of all Chance.

Ilsa ran to him for help. Even in the worst of times, she still went to him. For that, she needed to suffer a bit. When he got to the penthouse, there was no trace of them. He searched to find anything that might help him get a head start. After an unsuccessfull search, he sat down defeated. He spotted a small red book on the end table and picked it up. There was no title on the cover and the pages looked like they had been torn. Sure enough he found a few of them under the table. He started to read:

FOR A WOMAN OF SUCH STRENGTH AND FEARLESSNESS, I STILL COULDN'T STAND UP TO HIM. I KNOW THAT THIS WAS ONE OF THE WORST THINGS THAT COULD HAPPEN TO ANYONE, BUT I WISHED IT NEVER HAPPENED TO HIM. HE DOESN'T WANT TO ACCEPT THIS AND WON'T ACCEPT IT.

He realized he was reading her personal journal.

I HAVE BEEN SENDING HIM MIXED SIGNALS, AND ITS NO WONDER HE PUSHED ME AWAY. THIS PERSONAL ENDEAVOUR FUNDING A BODYGUARD FIRM TURNED OUT TO BE MORE TROUBLE THAN IT WAS WORTH. I FELL IN LOVE WITH ITS LEADER…AND NOW HE IS PAYING. THE SAD PART IS THAT I WAS TOO AFRAID TO TELL HIM.

As he continued to read, he noticed small watermarks on the page. She had obviously been crying when she wrote it. He could only figure because he kicked her out. He pushed her away with no hesitation because he wasn't ready to handle it all. Kill a few bad guys ..sure…. but watch Ilsa for 9 months denying her feelings and giving birth to Harmen's baby was something he wasn't ready for. He kept reading.

WHY AM I SO AFRAID TO WALK AWAY FROM HIM? I DON'T NEED HIS PROTECTION. I DONT NEED HIS GUN-WIELDING WAYS OR HIS PARANOIA. I HAVE NO OBLIGATION TO THIS MAN.

That's where it ended. He could tell by the ripped edges that she stopped there. But what he didn't understand was why she ripped it out. She wrote her feelings down and then ripped them apart. Was she that angry? Had he hurt her that bad? Did she want to write something worse than that? As Chance wondered his phone rang.