Selana was waiting for Azazel to get back, trying to be patient. She was already angry with him, and waiting didn't make it any better. She'd never been patient, and now was a particularly bad time for her to be left alone. She wanted him to be back simply so she could yell at him more. He had, in fact, not taken her back to the room she had dressed in. Instead, he took her to his personal quarters to talk. Of course, Selana wasn't interested in a mutual conversation; she was too angry for that.

Finally, Azazel returned. With someone else, by the looks of it.

"Who is this?" Selana asked, her anger plainly shown on her face. His name was Ydrazil, she remembered. Hadn't Azazel told him to watch Eric and Nick?

Before he answered, Azazel took a moment just to look at her. She was sitting on his bed, gripping the edge and leaning forward just slightly, giving him a lovely view down her dress. Her jaw was set, letting him admire the structure of her face. Her cheeks were slightly flushed with anger, but he recalled that they looked the same when she was excited. She looked fantastic...but that would be saved for later.

"This is your father, Selana. Ydrazil."

"You could be lying," she spat. "I never knew my father. He left my mother after she got pregnant with me. Eric knows who he was," she continued, "but I wouldn't believe anything he says, anyways."

Azazel sighed. "Ydrazil, you may leave. Go see what Eric and Nick are up to...and you can join in the fun, if you like." Ydrazil smirked and left, closing the door behind him.

Selana was on her feet in an instant. "You said that she'd be safe!"

"She might be, if you would listen to me!" he shouted.

She glared at him. "If you let them have Kayla, you'll get nothing from me."

"It's a little late for that."

"How could you let them do that to her?"

"That's beside the point," he said, smiling. "If you are willing, then I might be willing to keep them away from Kayla."

"That's blackmail," she hissed.

"Do you think I care? Come on, Selana, if it weren't for Eric and Nick, you would still want to be with me." He was only inches away from her, and she didn't look so angry anymore. She couldn't help but admit that she was still attracted to him.

"Only if you help Kayla."

Kurt and Kevin didn't find anything in the crater—Azazel wasn't dumb enough to leave the portal open. Kurt did have an idea, however. His brother Nils had transported Eric and Nick to the Abyss…couldn't he do the same with Kurt and Kevin? The tricky part would be getting back out of the Abyss…

"Kevin, you wait here," ordered Kurt. "I'm going to need a few of the X-Men to help out on this one." Before Kevin could protest, Kurt had teleported away.

"Great. Just great," muttered Kevin. "Now what am I supposed to do?" Just then, the air in front of him seemed to shiver. "What the…?" He reached out, and his hand disappeared! "Whoa…this must be the portal…" Kevin pulled his hand back out and glanced around. Should he wait for Kurt to come back? No, the portal might've closed by then… Taking a deep breath, he started to step through the portal and collided with Kayla.

"Kayla!" Kevin cried, hugging her tightly. "You're ok!"

He obviously hadn't taken a close look at her yet, which was fine with her. Just to spite Eric, Nick had beaten her, and Ydrazil probably would have, too, if Azazel hadn't intervened and ordered that she be released. Her hair was a mess, her dress was torn, and it felt like there wasn't a part of her that wasn't bruised. But she felt so secure in Kevin's arms, and it wasn't long before she was crying on his shoulder.

Kevin sank down to the dusty ground, pulling Kayla down with him. He cradled her gently, letting her cry, and it was then that he noticed the bruises on her arms. "Oh my gosh…Kayla, what happened?"

She shook her head, making it a point to not look at him so he couldn't see her face. "I…I'm fine. But Azazel still has Sel in there…we've got to get her out!"

Kevin shook his head. "'We' won't be doing anything. I'm taking you back to the hotel now. You need to rest—"

"No! I have to help Selana!" cried Kayla, forgetting to hide her face for the moment and looking up at Kevin.

He gasped when he saw her face; her cheek was now a dark purple. "What…did Azazel do that?"

She looked down quickly. "No…well, indirectly, I suppose…but I said I'm fine! We have to get Sel out of there!"

Eric watched Kayla disappear down the hall in frustration. He'd been so close... "How could you just let her go like that?" Eric yelled at Azazel. "She was barely here."

Azazel sighed. "I'm respecting Selana's wishes. Kayla doesn't matter to me."

"But she matters to me! Selana will never love you; she's too stubborn. Whatever she said is just a filthy lie. Kayla's gone for nothing."

Just then a door down the hall opened--Azazel's room. Selana stepped out in a bathrobe. "Are you coming, Azazel?" she said, smiling.

"I tell you, she's lying," Eric whispered to Azazel harshly.

Azazel ignored Eric and went to Selana, embracing her and kissing her gently. "Let's go inside."
Eric watched them go back inside the room and shut the door. What he wouldn't give to just kill Selana right now...

Nick walked up behind him. "This is so unfair...I didn't get enough time with Kayla," he said bitterly. He had liked being with Kayla--she was awfully beautiful--but his hands were itching to touch Selana again...

Selana sat down on the edge of the bed and looked up at Azazel. "So, where's Kayla?"

"I let her go. She's probably back at her hotel room by now," he answered softly, sitting next to her and moving in for a kiss.

She pushed him away. "How do I know she's safe?" she asked firmly.

"Didn't you see Eric in the hallway? He'd be with Kayla if she were still here."

She sighed. "You're right, I guess." She began to untie her bathrobe, but Azazel stopped her.

"I'll do that, darling," he said, smirking, and slid his hand into her robe.

Eric wandered aimlessly around Azazel's castle, fuming. He had clearly seen the damage Nick had inflicted on Kayla, and it was only by sheer willpower that he kept himself from knocking Nick out. And he wasn't too pleased with Azazel or Ydrazil, either… He was actually considering helping Sel escape, just to spite Azazel—then he'd kill her and get Kayla back. Yes, that was the perfect plan…except he'd have to convert to Christianity afterward so he wouldn't end up back here with an angry Azazel.

"Eric! Stop!" somebody shouted behind him. Somebody he knew…

He turned around to face Kurt Wagner, stepping through a portal. And on the other side of the portal, he could see Kevin holding Kayla… Jealousy burned in his stomach, drowning out whatever Kurt was saying. He snapped back to reality when Kurt punched him, though.

"What'd you do that for?" he asked, getting up from the floor and rubbing his jaw.

"For hurting Kayla," Kurt growled. "Now where's Selana?"

"What? I didn't do anything to Kayla! That was Nick and Ydrazil—"

"Where's Selana?" Kurt asked again in a low voice.

Eric shrugged. "I'll help you find her, but on one condition…"

"I'm not making deals with you, scum!" shouted Kurt. "Where is she?"

"Well, what do we have here?" asked Nick, rounding the corner with a smirk. "The mutant and the wimp!" Ignoring Eric's glare, he continued, "So, Blue Man, I'm assuming you're here for Selana."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I suppose you'll want to make a deal with me, too?"

Nick smirked. "I suppose I will."

"No," said Kurt. "No way. I'll find her myself." He started to walk off, but Eric thought of something and stopped him.

"I don't think you'll want a run-in with Ydrazil…"

Kurt turned and glared at Eric. "I can deal with him."

"You'll have enough on your hands with Azazel; he's really smitten with Selana. I propose that Nick keeps Ydrazil away while you and I fetch my dear sister, and you will be so grateful to us that you'll let us out of this Hell—pun intended."

Kurt shook his head. "I think I'm going to regret this, but…sure." He, Nick, and Eric shook on it, and then went off to play out their respective roles in the plan.

"C'mon, Kayla… Kurt will bring Sel back… You need to get back to the hotel…" murmured Kevin, stroking Kayla's hair. Poor Nils, whose stomach formed the portal to the Abyss, felt very much like he was intruding on a private moment now. Ex-villain Polaris, who was holding Nils' portal open, didn't mind so much.

Kayla shook her head. "I'm not leaving until I see that she's safe."

"Which hopefully won't be too much longer," interjected Nils. "This is pretty uncomfortable…"

Looking at Nils, whose stomach-portal was stretched large enough for Kurt to slip in, Kevin couldn't help but smile. "It looks it." He paused, and then asked, "Do you think Kurt's really going to let those two out?"

Polaris smirked. "He's got the heart in him, but I don't. They won't be getting out of there if I can help it."

Azazel nuzzled her neck and pulled her closer as she moaned in pleasure. "You're so perfect," he whispered softly in her ear. She didn't answer; she was still groaning and crying out, and he hoped she wouldn't stop too soon. He didn't care anymore if Eric was right, and she was faking. If she really was...it was worth it.

In fact, Selana wasn't pretending anything. She had to admit that Azazel was a good lover--better than Kevin and maybe even Nick. If she were going to be stuck with Azazel for the rest of her life, she certainly wouldn't mind it--especially this part. Of course, she still had a shred of hope that Kevin and Kurt would keep looking for her and try to help her, but part of her doubted they would. They both loved Kayla...so once they found out that Kayla was okay, they might completely forget that Sel was still in trouble. Kayla probably wouldn't want to get involved with this again, and even if she did want to help her friend, Selana knew that she didn't want Kayla involved.

Suddenly the door burst open. "Oh...Gott..." Kurt's voice.

Azazel quickly rolled off of her, and she scrambled to get the sheets wrapped around herself. Her face was already burning with embarrassment before she even looked up.

For the first few moments, Kurt just stared at her. She was breathing fast, her body glistening with sweat, her hair plastered around her face...and he had seen just a glimpse of her before she'd covered herself. He was shocked enough at what he and Eric had walked in on, but then seeing Sel...

"Get some clothes on, Sel," Eric ordered. "You're coming with us."

She began to obey, but Azazel grabbed her arm and pulled her close to himself. "No. She's staying here." He wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her next to him.

"It's her own choice," Eric said. "Sel?"

Selana stared at Eric in shock. Was he on her side? What was her side, anyways? She didn't know if she even wanted to leave. She stole a glance at Azazel. She was still attracted to him, whether she cared to admit it or not. Was it really destiny? "I--"

"Please, Selana," Azazel whispered to her, "don't leave." He caressed her cheek lovingly and drew her into a kiss. Selana wished that Eric and Kurt weren't there, so she and Azazel could continue what they were doing before.

Eric just rolled his eyes and wished that Selana would listen to him, but Kurt reacted differently. In a moment, he ripped Azazel away from Sel and punched him in the jaw. Then he turned back to Selana. "Are you okay?"

"Uh...yeah," she said, obviously a little confused. But even so, she got out of the bed, still holding the sheets up to cover herself, and got all her clothes off of the floor, putting the robe around herself for the time being. Eric beckoned her over.

"Come with me," he told her, and headed out the door.

She didn't follow. "What about Kurt?"

"I'll be fine, Sel," Kurt said, smiling. "I'll keep Azazel away while you leave. I'll catch up later."

Selana nodded and followed Eric out the door.

"Sel!" shouted Kevin, and Kayla jumped a bit. It was the middle of the night, after all, and it would seem that she'd dozed off. It was a light sleep, however, and in the next second she'd jumped up and was hugging Sel hard.

"I'm so glad you're ok!" she finally said, letting Sel go. "I can't believe we both fell for Azazel's tricks… But now we can go home, and—" She stopped, looking around, and took a step back when she saw Eric step through the portal. "Where's Kurt?"

"He'll be coming, soon," said Sel, a little uncomfortable in just a robe with strangers around. "He was detaining Azazel so I could escape…"

Kevin interposed himself between Eric and Kayla. "You and Sel, get back. Polaris, get ready. Eric, I hate to say this, but I might need your help in this…" His jaw was set, and he was staring determinedly into the portal.

"Why? What's wrong?" asked Kayla, looking over Sel's shoulder into the portal. "Oh, no…" she breathed. Nick was making his way down the hall to the portal, but Kurt was nowhere to be seen. Kayla wasn't quite so frightened of Eric now, since he did seem to care about her a little, but Nick… The wounds he'd inflicted on her were more than emotional, and they were still fresh. "You…you're not going to let him through, are you?" she asked anxiously.

Sel suddenly noticed Kayla's bruises. "Oh my gosh! What happened to you?" Before Kayla could respond, Sel had rounded on Eric and slapped him. "You—"

"Sel, stop!" shouted Kayla. "It wasn't him!"

"Well, then who was it?" asked Sel, but then it dawned on her. "Nick… But he's never hurt me before… I didn't think he was capable of that…"

Eric shrugged. "Jealousy can do that to a person. Speaking of which, here comes the Blue Man."

Just then, Kurt showed up in the portal, running as fast as he could down the hall. He shouted to Nick to hurry up and quickly passed him. Azazel appeared then, just in front of Nick, wearing nothing but his boxers and an expression of such rage that Kayla took another step back.

"Kurt! Hurry!" shouted Kevin, shooting a worried look at Polaris. Kurt teleported again to just in front of the portal, but Azazel was just behind him, and both tumbled out of the portal. In the confusion that followed, Kayla and Sel retreated to a safe distance while Nick also came through, and he, Eric, Kevin, and Kurt, were finally able to push Azazel back into the portal, which Polaris released and Nils rapidly closed.

"Is everyone okay?" Kurt asked, glancing around at all of them, but making a point to linger on Sel and Kayla. They'd been through a lot. Everyone either nodded or murmured an answer.

"So, Sel," Nick said lustily, smiling at her, "now that we're out of there, how 'bout we get back together and-"

"Shut up!" Selana practically screamed at him. "I hate you. When are you going to realize that? I just want to go back to the hotel and sleep." She hugged herself and pulled the robe tighter, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

"Why did you even get their help, anyways?" Kayla asked Kurt, eyeing Nick and Eric warily.

"It was the quickest way to get Sel out...and they were good help. But still, I guess we should get rid of them." Without another word, Kurt simultaneously knocked out Eric and Nick before they had a chance to defend themselves.

"Well, what are we going to do with them this time?" Kevin asked. "They're like pests that won't go away..."

"I'll deal with them," Polaris interjected, smirking. "I'll take them back to the Institute, and I'm sure we'll think of someplace safe to put them."

"Great. Let's go, then. I'm tired," Selana said dully.

Kevin and Kurt escorted Kayla and Sel back to the hotel, and though they didn't want to leave the girls alone, it was late, and they probably wanted some time to themselves. That, and the fact that the girls had kicked them out of their room and locked the door joining the rooms.

Selana wasted no time in changing her clothes and crawling into bed. Kayla was a little less quick to sleep, though. She could already tell that Sel was acting differently, and it bothered her.

"Sel? Are you asleep yet?"

"No. What?"

"Do you...do you want to talk about what happened?" she asked. Kayla knew that Sel would feel a lot better if she did...she knew she had after Eric. And not only was she interested in what happened to Sel, she also wanted Sel to listen to her.

"No," Selana answered stiffly.

"Are you sure? You'll feel better," Kayla assured.

"Yes. I'm exhausted. I just need sleep."

Kayla sighed, disappointed. "All right." She then turned off the last light and slipped into her own bed.

The next few days they spent confined to their rooms for the most part. None of them really wanted to do anything special, anyway. They ordered room service for meals, with the occasional pizza or Chinese. Kayla's bruises and scratches from Nick were healing very well, and her emotional wounds were healing, too. But she worried about Sel. Selana was acting very much the way Kayla had after Eric. She had awful mood swings--sometimes she would act like herself, and the next minute she was yelling at everyone for no reason--but mostly she was distant or angry. Kayla tried to get her to talk about what had happened, since none of them really had any idea what went on between Azazel and her, but to no avail. She also tried to get Kevin to talk to Selana, but Kevin couldn't get anything out of her, either. Finally, Kayla talked Kurt into spending the day with Selana while she and Kevin stayed in the other room.

"What do you want?" Selana demanded the moment he stepped through the door. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching TV and flipping through the channels, but it was obvious that she wasn't interested in watching anything.

"I want to talk to you," he answered uneasily. He was positive that she wouldn't talk to him--why would she, after her best friend and ex-boyfriend had already tried?

"There's nothing to talk about," she replied simply, but turned off the TV. Good sign. She might, at least, be willing to listen.

"Yes, there is. Kurt sat down next to her and decided to be blunt. "You've been acting really strange lately, Selana, and we all know why. So just tell me what happened and I'll try to help you get over it."

"I can't tell you," she said, staring at her hands.

"Why not?"

"You wouldn't understand..." She finally looked up at him, her emerald eyes searching his. She looked so helpless...

Suddenly, he leaned over and kissed her, putting an arm around her waist to hold her close. He caught her totally off guard. For a moment, she just sat there, shocked, then began to return it...but changed her mind and pushed him away. "What are you doing? I thought we were just friends," she hissed.

"I did, too...I'm sorry, Sel, it's just...you looked so..." He stopped for a moment, trying to think of how to say it. "Selana, I've had a lot of feelings for you the past few days--"

"Everyone has feelings," Selana interrupted. She could hardly believe she was hearing this.

"But I was so worried for you...You saw how I reacted when Azazel kissed you."

She looked uncomfortable. "You barely know me."

"I'd like to learn," Kurt answered, grinning.

"I'm not interested in any relationships."

"Why not? Is it something to do with what happened with Azazel?"

"No...yes...kind of."

"Just tell me, Selana," he pleaded.

She hesitated, just for a second. "I liked him."

"What? Who? ...Azazel?"

"Yes." She was staring at her hands again, afraid to look at him. "And...I...I was going to stay with him..."

Now Kurt could hardly believe what he was hearing. "You wanted to stay with him?" he asked sadly.

"Yeah. But...he told me this weird destiny thing...that we were meant to be together or something, and...I'm starting to believe that was true. I really miss him."

"After everything that happened...what he did...you like him?"

She smiled a bit. "You assumed what happened. Everything that went on between us--what you walked in on--all of it was consensual. Not like what happened with Kayla. And...Azazel treated me better than anyone ever has. Sure, I was angry about the whole kidnapping thing, and about Eric and Nick...but he still treated me right. He really cared about me. Look, I'll try to stop acting like a wreck...I've just never really felt this sad and lonely before."

"I can't believe this," Kurt said, shaking his head.

"Kurt, even if you don't believe me, please don't tell Kayla of Kevin. They won't understand...just like you don't."

Kurt sighed. "I guess I'll just tell them you didn't say anything. Anything sane, anyways."