A Repo Man stood in Rotti Largo's office. "You wished to see me?"

"Yes. I have a task for you, one that holds special importance." Rotti stood, organizing his reposession papers. His next words would be difficult for him to say. He was actually enjoying his time with Mag, but she had crossed a line and she had to pay. "It is involving a GeneCo employee." He looked at the Repo Man briefly before handing him the reposession paper that was specific to the job. "I'm afraid we are about to lose our Voice."

The Repo Man took the paper. He recognized Blind Mag's picture. "Pardon my curiosity, but why does Blind Mag have a reposession over her head?"

"She has crossed GeneCo. Find her and gouge those digital corneas of hers out of her skull. do anything else to her that it takes to get those eyes. Make it hurt." Rotti wasn't sure which woman gave him more grief, Marni or ag. They were both sinister and they had both used him. If he hadn't known any better, he would've said they'd plotted the tormet they brought him. "What are you waiting for?" he impatiently demanded. "Go!" he shouted.

The Repo Man didn't need to be told twice. He left the office. He generally felt indifferent about his target. He hoped to get high pay from the job, since it had been established that it held special importance.

_ _

It was the day after when Mag regained her consciousness. She didn't know why she was on the floor. When she felt a burning pain in her neck and when she let her hand fly up to feel the bite mark, memories came flooding back. Graverobber had turned into something, someone horrible. It wasn't him, she knew he couldn't have been aware of what he'd been doing. Out of routine, she felt she had to confront him about something, but in all actuality she had already forgave him.

She shook him awake on the couch. "You bit me!" She yelled. "You bit me! What the hell is wrong with you? What were you thinking?" She knew he was going to apologize and then everything between them would be fine. That was the beauty of denial.

Graverobber stood and hugged her. "It was an accident." He kissed her and his tune changed. He was the different person again. He pushed her to the floor, landing on top of her, nearly knocking the wind out of her. "What's the matter?" he growled. "Can't a slut like you handle reality?"

Mag realized she had been wrong about him. She had given him too many chances. He was blowing them, and her feelings refused to change. She stillloved him, but now her mind was starting to come back to her. She understood she was better off without him. She couldn't stop the tears from coming to her eyes. Denying that the name hurt he would have been a lie. It did hurt.

"I'm sorry." Back to himself again. "I hadn't meant to say that." Like the flip of a switch, he was once again the monster. He picked her up and threw her back onto the floor. "I love you." He kissed her. "I love you so much." He kicked her repeatitively. "You know I love you, right?" He slapped her.

Mag hurt all over. She was confused. This was not the Graverobber she knew, and yet somehow it was. Tears streaked down her cheeks and she honestly thought she was going to throw up blood. She wasn't sure how much internal damage he was causing, but she could sure feel it. She wanted to hate him. She wanted to hate him so she would make him leave and never see him again. She couldn't hate him, though. She also couldn't bear the thought of not seeing Graverobber again. For an extremely twisted reason, she needed him. She couldn't fathom why, she just recognized the need. That was even more confusing. "Why are you doing this to me?" Everything would have been so much easier if he hadn't changed suddenly. He would surely be the death of her. Mag realized she didn't want to know. Then she realized something else. When they'd had sex, he hadn't used a condom. She pushed away from him and made it to her feet. "On second thought, I don't want to know!"

Running out of her house, Mag decided to go to the store. Her heart thudded in her chest at the thought that she might be pregnant. She didn't want to be pregnant. Graverobber wouldn't be a fitting father, Mag knew. Besides, with the world they lived in, the child would probably kill itself to be free of the pain. Mag still felt like she was going to throw up, and if she did, it would be a sign of morning sickness.

She had to know. She didn't want to punish an innocent child by bringing it into the awful world. She avoided the strange looks she got as she entered the store. She was there for one thing only, a pregnancy test stick. It was simply, the instructions on the box were plain. All you had to do was pee on the provided stick and wait. If a red plus showed up, you were pregnant. If it was a blue negative, you weren't. As Mag stood in line she prayed and prayed to see the blue negative when she took the test.

Running to and from the store had seemed like a blur, but that was probably due to the tears that were still in Mag's eyes. She hid the box so Graverobber wouldn't see in when she returned. She didn't want him to know unless he had to, and he only had to know if she saw a little red plus.

When Mag got back to the house she didn't see Graverobber and she didn't care. She headed straight for the bathroom. She hastily and shakily tore the box open. She was glad she had gotten her impulsive thought when she hag, when when it wouldn't be too late to do something. She quickly peed on the stick and sat it on the edge of the sink, waiting.

That was when Graverobber barged in and pulled her out of the bathroom. He seemed slightly crazed, but like his usual self. Mag felt a rush of relief. She wouldn't question him about anything anymore. She would simply enjoy their good moments until the bad ones started again. It was the only way they could work, and they had to work.

When Graverobber wrapped his arms around her and asked, "Where were you?" Mag knew he was worried. "I thought I'd scared you away. I didn't think you'd come back."

"Well, I would've had to come back some time. This is my house, remember?" She felt her stomach clamp up and nearly fell onto Graverobber. Pain was written clearly on her face.

"Mag, are you alright?" The worry was evident in his voice. He hadn't seen her do that before.

Forcing herself to breathe, she replied, "I - I need to eat." How long had it been since she'd eated? Two days? Three? More? Whatever she was feeling felt ten thousand times worse than usual menstrual cramps, which sucked on their own.

"Okay, we'll get you something to eat." Graverobber led her to the kitchen and got her to a chair. He hoped she wasn't just using hunger as a cover up for something more serious. He couldn't lose her. It would be the end of him, whether it be by his hand or otherwise. He opened the refrigerator and grabbed a bowl of fruit that was conviniently sitting on one of the shelves. He took it to the table he'd sat Mag at and watched in awe as she nearly devoured all of its contents. He had never seen anyone eat so fast. "Are you okay now?"

"Not really," Mag answered while standing. She threw her arms around him. "But I'm never going to be okay. I'm going to suck it up and take the lemons life gives me."

"You've changed." Graverobber stated. "Something about you is different. You're not the same woman I fell in love with." He wasn't sure if he liked that.

"You aren't the same man I fell in love with either!" Mag was takeing defense. She just decided to let him have it. She was upset and angry. It wouldn't hurt him to apologize one more time. She had just said she would take the lemons that life gave her, and he'd just given her one with the permission to rant. "I don't know how I could ever have trusted you! You're abusive! You beat me and told me you love me while doing so! Don't you think that's going to leave some deep, mental scars? Why did you save me from that rapist? Were you on a mission to prove you could get close to me and hurt me even worse than him - was that is? Or maybe you're in on some kind of sick plan with Rotti, even better! You are evil! You used me so many times, and I didn't seeit. All you had to do was say you were sorry and the problem was fixed. Well, you're out of apologies, mister! What you have done to me can't be fixed! You have mistreated me - just like everyone else, so you can go die! I wouldn't even care if you died, right now. Why should I? You obviously don't care about me. If you cared you wouldn't abuse me. If you loved me you would treat me right after sex, not just before. You are the typical, awful man, and I wish I'd never met you!"

She started a furious walk out of the kitchen but hadn't gotten very far when Graverobber grabbed her by the leg. He pulled and suddenly Mag was on the floor. Her words had hurt him and he'd lost what little control his worry had gained him. He wished he could explain the battle going on within him. Mag let out a cry.

Graverobber yanked her to her feet. "Didn't your parents teach you to respect people?" His patronizing tone was against her ear.

"You're not a person - you're a monster!" Mag kicked him.

Graverobber's hand connected to her face hard enough for Mag's nose to bleed. Then he used his fists. He punched her chest multiple times which made her double over in pain.

Mag's mind kept screaming get away! Get away! She tried running away from him. She succeeded. When she got outside she continued running. She ran until she tripped and fell. In her pain and agony, she did cough blood onto the pavement.