A/N: again, so sorry for the long wait, I am pretty busy with school and classes! But I am in a creative swing so HOPEFULLY you all will be getting a few chapters here in the next few weeks! Don't quote me though...Welp, Here it is, CHAPTER 10.

A banging on Sage's door jolted her from her thoughts and made her jump.

"Sage." Martel was calling her. She sounded annoyed and upset. "Sage!"

Sage jumped up to open the door. "Yeah, What is it? Do you need me up top?" Martel glowered at her and shoved her back into the room.

"Bet you think your clever. Bet you think this will solve all your problems, and that your days of wasting away down here are over. No no, it's okay, I had the exact same thoughts. But let me tell you right now that none of that is going to happen, and I'll tell you what will happen. He'll be all nice and act like a gentleman, and you'll blush and giggle and stuff. But after all that is over, He'll shovel you back out and you'll be right back where you started. So wipe that smirk off your face and make yourself presentable."

Sage gaped. What in the world was Martel talking about? An uneasy feeling was tugging at her gut.

"I'm...Sorry?" She managed.

Martel gave her a withering glare, and began to turn away. Sage gritted her teeth. She was done with people treating her like this. Grabbing Martel's arm, she yanked her around so they faced each other again.

"Let me rephrase that. Excuse me? What the hell makes you think you can talk to me like that? What makes you any better than me? Because from what I can tell, your just as much of a prisoner as I am, tailing after your master all the time like a dog! So get off your damn high horse and tell me what the hell you're talking about!"

The two women stood toe to toe for a few tense moments, fuming at each other. Finally Martel took a deep breath and straightened.

"Mr. Greed has demanded that you spend the night with him. In his room, in his bed. For as many nights as he deems necessary."

Martel's words seemed to hang in the air. A feeling of weightlessness settled over Sage, and the edges of her vision dimmed. Finally an emotion pricked through her bubble of utter shock. Betrayal. Betrayal? Why would she feel such a thing? Maybe because he had droned on and on about friendship and trust and all that. She had felt like he was someone she could trust, could befriend, and now it turned out he was just using her for sex? Ouch.

Bile rose in Sage's throat, and the rest of her emotions came rushing back. Anger, disgust, nervousness, excitement, bewilderment. She blinked several times, trying to recover some composure, but Martel didn't let her.

"Come with me, we've got to get you properly dolled up," she said, her words dripping with scorn.

The next few hours were a blur. She got a shower, with some very good smelling soaps, her body hair was waxed, her hair was brushed out-quite a chore, as it hadn't been brushed in weeks, and subtle hints of make up were applied to her face and the bruises that still lingered.

Before she knew it she was sitting alone in a small room, "all dolled up", waiting for the time to arrive.

Sage sat there, twiddling her thumbs, thinking. She was still a virgin. She had only ever kissed about 2 boys in her entire life, not including small childish pecks when she was young. How could this be happening? So sudden!

She frowned and chewed her bottom lip. Wasn't your first time supposed to be...like...special or something? It was supposed to be with someone you love, or at least someone who means something to you. Wasn't it called 'making love'? It was supposed to me meaningful, lovely, significant. So why did she feel like...a whore? Like she was being used, like she was an outlet of some kind?

A feeling of regret tugged at her chest. Why was Greed doing this? Did he know anything about women? What made him think that one would want to be treated like this? Made "pretty enough", thrown into his bed, and used? It was as good as rape.

Sage's eyes began to fill with tears. To think that she had thought Greed was an okay guy, if a little crazy, bloodthirsty and...well, greedy. She had thought he was a good guy, and was on her side, or something. But it turns out that he was like Leppun: Oily and smooth, but evil.

No, she reprimanded herself, he wasn't evil. Selfish and cruel, but not evil. He had no obligation to her. He didn't know her, he rarely even spoke to her. Sage didn't know why she was feeling so hurt and let down. She didn't mean anything to him, and she had no right to expect anything from him.

Well...he had said they were friends…

At that moment, there was a swift knock on the door, followed immediately by Roa. Sage's face burned at being seen by the older man while wearing such a revealing ensemble: a simple, low cut, red silk nightie and some sheer black thigh-highs. Not only did she feel like a whore, she reflected absently, she looked the part.

If Roa felt awkward, he was a phenomenal actor, because he didn't show it a bit. He gave her a tight smile and held the door wider, inviting her to come with him.

Sage, hesitated, giving him an imploring look. She had so many questions, but didn't have the faintest idea where to begin. Turned out that it didn't matter: Roa simply shook his head, and something flashed in his eyes before he averted them, leaving the room and expecting her to follow.

As Sage trailed down the corridors after him, the sinking feeling in her gut intensified, and her nerves kicked in, making her hands shake. Frantically, she tried to calm herself, and run through what little she knew about sex in her head. All too, soon, they were there.

Roa reached for the knob, and without really thinking about it, Sage snatched his hand from it wordlessly. He paused long enough to give her an encouraging look, and the door was opened.

Sage was paralyzed: she couldn't make herself step through the door. Her heart pounded and she felt tears threaten to fall. Gruffly, Roa grasped her wrist and pulled her through the door, shutting it quickly behind her. She was alone. Greed didn't count in this instance.

But...she didn't see him. Granted, it was a rather extensive room, with other doors branching off, so he might be behind one. She backed up a step or two, until her back was against the beautiful dark wooden door. The lavish furniture, so sultry and inviting before, and in her dreams, was now manipulative, vulgar somehow.

Chastising herself for being such a ninny, she took several deep breaths, closing her eyes and tugging down the hem of the skimpy silk she wore.

"Why hello there," came a deep drawl.

Sage nearly jumped out of her skin, barely biting back a yelp of surprise. Her heart began pounding with nervousness all over again at the sight of him.

He wore black jeans, slung low on his hips, and his fur hooded vest lay open over his bare chest, the strange tattoos criss-crossing over his torso and down his arms. His jet black hair glistened with water droplets, and he had a towel draped around his chorded neck. A smirk touched his lips, and she realized that he had caught her checking him out again. She pressed herself even more firmly against the door.

His eyes narrowed as he studied her, and she flushed under his direct gaze.

"What are you wearing?" he sneered.

Resentment rose in her throat like bile, despite herself. "How should I know? It's not like I picked it out, trying to impress you! It's not like I had any sort of choice!" she snapped, tears of humiliation and trepidation pricking once more.

He seemed not to notice, and continued, "Thank god, I should hope you have better taste than that. Red isn't really you're color is it?"

She was about to bark a retort, but she noticed the smile playing at the corners of his mouth, and realized he was trying to jerk her chain.

"Whatever." was all she muttered, and lowered her eyes to the floor, trying desperately to calm her racing heart and buzzing nerves.

The silence dragged on between them, and finally she looked up to see him sitting on the edge of the bed, leaning casually on one arm, using the other to towel off his hair. He was still regarding her sardonically, but he was not smiling.

"Come here." he said flatly. Panic began to close up her throat at his tone, and she found it hard to breathe as her feet drew her towards him.

"Sit down." he commanded once she was before him. She perched lightly on the very edge of the soft duvet, keeping her hands tucked rigidly under her thighs, refusing to meet his ruby gaze.

He let out a breath. "What is the matter with you? I can't figure out why you are such a downer, and it's starting to piss me off, ya know." The drawl was back, and she felt herself relax a fraction. This Greed, she could handle. The other one frightened her.

"Nothing's the matter with me." she said brusquely, trying to sound unruffled.

"Bull shit. I could knock you over with a feather, you're so tense. This is supposed to be fun, little hostage."

"Do you tell that to all the girls, or am I just lucky?" she let some haughtiness leak into her tone.

"Cut that out." the flatness was back, and with it, the stiffness to her posture. He paused. "I'm going to check out things up top. When I get back, I expect you to have an attitude adjustment."

Sage said nothing.

"Understand?" he snapped.

She jumped, and nodded. He looked at her for a moment more, then sighed deeply. "Look, just...make yourself comfortable. This is a nice place, a sight better than your last one, if I'm correct." Still she did not reply. He punched her shoulder lightly, saying "This is supposed to be fun, remember?"

With that, he tossed his towel away, ran his hand through his spiky hair, and was gone. She was alone with her thoughts.

After a minute or two of sitting primly on the edge of the bed, she relaxed, and let out the breath she had been holding. He was gone for now. Progress. Or at least postponement. Shakily, she stood and walked to the right side of the enormous bed.

A tear spilled down her cheek, and she angrily wiped it away. There was no reason to cry now! She felt like such a child, a naive, scared little child. Greed was right, she needed to grow up, to get over it. As she turned to sit down on the bed once more, she caught sight of herself in a mirror. It was quite a surprise.

Her face was thinner, or at lease more defined. Her tawny hair looked a bit lank, but a brushing and washing had done wonders for it. But past that, there was nothing she saw that she liked. She looked so gaudy in the silly ensemble. The red nightie was garish and indeed was not her color. It hung awkwardly on her, a body not made for such lingerie. The stockings were a bit better, but not much. The lace and frills on them looked silly, and made her feel like she was playing dress up. Immediately she ripped them off, along with the nightie. This left her in only black panties. The make up on her slightly gaunt face looked bad too, and she hastily wiped it away.

There, that was better. She felt more like herself now. She didn't like extras; the curls, the frills, the powders. She preferred being...well, natural. And this was as natural as she could get at the moment. Looking at herself again, she felt a little better.

Now that her nerves were calming and the adrenaline wearing off, she felt tired, worn out from the stress of it all. Climbing under the covers, she even let herself enjoy it, while she could. Greed might be back any minute after all.

The sheets were sooo heavenly against her bare skin, and she hadn't felt a mattress in weeks. Or a pillow. The fluffiness and texture of it all was delicious, and before she had a chance to drink it all it, she was asleep.

Greed was not happy with how that exchange had gone. Not happy at all. It wasn't like he had expected her to melt at his feet and be an utterly willing partner. If he had wanted that there were plenty of other outlets. He didn't want an outlet though. He didn't even know what he wanted. But one thing for sure, he didn't want an unwilling partner, especially not in this instance.

He certainly hadn't counted on her being this unwilling! She looked positively revolted by the idea! It made him mad. ...but not that mad. He couldn't really be mad at her. He didn't like being mad in the first place, it was so unattractive. And he really couldn't blame her.

So, after an hour or so at the bar front, giving her-and himself-some time to calm down and cool off, he headed back to the room, ready for her attitude and quips.

Upon arriving, however, he found her mostly naked, and sound asleep. She had removed the ridiculous outfit-he didn't even want to know who had picked that out, but he had an idea-and the make-up. An improvement.

He studied her for a minute longer, deciding on what to do. Finally, he removed his shirt and vest, got into his bed, and went to sleep.

Sage woke slowly and luxuriously. For a good ten minutes, all she was aware of was being comfortable and warm.

Then, with an uncomfortable and unwelcome jolt, she realized there was a man's back less than an inch from her nose, and it all came back. She snapped up and scrambled away from him, clutching the covers to her bare chest, and thoroughly waking him in the process.

"Oh my god, are you serious," he growled. "What the hell is your problem?"

Sage blinked. She had underwear on, he had pants on, and she had no recollection of anything explicit going on between them.

"Wait a second...nothing happened?"

"You are a genius, did you know?" He muttered, still angry at his rude awakening.

"I can't believe this, you drag me down here, and you didn't even try anything?"

"You're welcome?" he snapped. "And I can fix that if it means that much to you."

"NO, no…" she hastened to say. "Just...I mean...thank you…"

He gave her a queer look.

"I mean...you didn't...want to?" she asked quietly.

He sighed, and rubbed his eyes before running a hand through his hair. "No," he replied, standing and reaching for his shirt. "You didn't want to."

Slipping the clothing over his head, he picked up a jacket and was gone, leaving Sage to puzzle over his words.

A/N: Alright, I'm sorry I have to say this, but I have noticed that I have a good number of readers, but NO REVIEWS. It is really important to me to get those, because they help me to know what to change, how to improve, and if people like where the story is going and how it has gotten there. It really improves me as a writer, and I can learn for stories to come, or even for chapters to come. SO PLEASE PLEASE review.

Also, thank you for reading! Its nice to know I have so many readers, very encouraging. :)