Sergei nudged Lili, who had fallen asleep on the couch with her laptop at the side.

They were at a hotel; they thought it might be best to head there early in the day and stay the night, in case something happened back at her temporary home. Given the potential delicate nature of everything, it seemed like the best thing to do. She had naturally picked a huge suite. She had tried to get a little rest, since she knew they would be confronting Sullivan tonight at an office building that was closer to the outskirts of the city.

He probably picked that one because it was innocuous, and so that we were closer to the end where he could take my body and dispose of it somewhere.

He has no idea I'm bringing company, though.

The meeting was easy to set up; she simply let word pass down the grapevine about a possible deal with the Zaibatsu, which was totally fake. She knew Sullivan would reply, which he did.

She had enough of this stupid corporate intrigue to last her a lifetime. I really don't want this to be my life now.

The plan was fairly simple; Lars and Sergei would be leaving separately and showing up after, with her letting them know when she was inside. She would be taking a company car, and nothing would look amiss.

She was nervous, though. In her mind, she played out some of the worst-case-scenario things that could happen.

Her company car driver could be corrupt. She could get there and they could be waiting, armed before she even stepped in. She suspected neither of these things would happen, of course...but it still made her wish there was another plan. She knew the other two would be fairly nearby, though.

She had thought about all of these things as Sergei crouched down next to her, pushing back some of her hair. "We should go," he said.

She nodded. She leaned in to kiss him once lightly. He returned it...and then another one. He then touched her face before turning to leave. The two of them would be going their own way for now.

She got dressed, choosing easy to move in clothing that could pass as a sort of business casual. She had a feeling that she may have to fight something tonight, and didn't want to be caught in an unsuitable outfit.

Pulling on her jacket, she looked around at the hotel room, expecting to see it again.

Only victorious.

–

The ride was uneventful. The driver was simply that...just a driver.

Sergei and Lars had said there was nothing amiss; Lars suspected he would want her to actually go fully into the meeting room, as he probably had plans more along the lines of kidnapping. After some discussion, they decided to walk into the front, together, just in case.

They did so; it was dark, and the place looked fairly empty...but there were a few lights scattered about the upstairs. The company car was gone, and the surrounding area looked shockingly desolate. It was almost creepy, and would have been if she had been alone, she thought.

After they entered and separated; Lili was going to determine where the room was-the electronic locks on the front doors clicked.

Shit. I guess something was given away.

Sergei and Lars looked calm though.

Then, it suddenly occurred to her. She smirked over at them.

They had wanted this. They didn't want him to escape. It was rather brilliant. She looked over at them with a slight scowl, however.

"You could have filled me in," she said, folding her arms.

Sergei snorted a bit of laughter. Lars responded. "It was a last minute decision."

Lili rolled her eyes, wondering what sort of conversation led it's way up to that, and she regretted not being there to witness it. She suspected it may have been a little amusing.

She focused, though. She knew that it could get ugly in here, and soon.

The three stood together; they knew they had cut the elevators, but they had also locked the doors. They had no idea how many were in there, or even who was in there.

Lars looked at them both. "It's all or nothing now."

Sergei smirked. Lili blinked.

"You mean..."

He looked down at her, the smirk still on his face. "We fight our way through. He's here."

She nodded, listening to the footsteps come from all around.

Well, looks like tonight won't be boring...

Lars cracked his knuckles and his neck as he saw the first men coming in from the left side. Sergei backed up, noticing many shadows from the south door. His expression did not change.

Lili thought she might get away with maybe trying to track down Sullivan, but given there were a few more trying to sneak around, she decided she wanted to stay here and help, instead.

It didn't take long for all hell to break loose.

Lars, having the uncanny ability to dash in almost unnoticed before unleashing an assault, leapt up and came down on one's head with a downward angled kick; it was so strong that Lili could hear the snap of the man's neck from where she was standing.

Sergei maneuvered around to two others, grappling one, punching his face twice brutally before kneeing him in it two more times; he threw him to the ground so hard the blow likely killed him. The second had his knee crushed by a downward kick, Sergei then following with two more kicks to the head as he went to his good knee; the blows were so fierce that they cracked bone and sent him flying; the blood smear left behind on the wall told Lili he was dead, as well.

The enemies came in greater numbers now. Lili saw one getting close to her as she hit him in the chest with her palms, sweeping him asunder and kicking him in the chest; he stumbled back, hitting his head on the wall. He seemed to be out.

More came out. Lili preferred to knock any that came near her out; another had two upward hand strikes break his nose, before a roundhouse put him down for the count as he hit the floor. She wiped the blood from her hand-she disliked that, but after she saw Sergei bring another down to crush his skull against the wall with a brutal downward strike with his boot, she figured it was nothing.

Lars smashed one with several hits; two punches, a roundhouse kick, and then a running kick to the chin that also broke his neck by the sound.

She saw two men break and run; neither Sergei nor Lars paid them no mind. Lili decided not to, either; she figured after they saw what they just did, they weren't going to do anything for the Zaibatsu again, ever.

Lili did not even realize time going by. She was careful to stay in safe positions; she knew they may have guns. She had hers, but did not take it out. Neither did Lars or Sergei, just to be safe; they did not want to hit each other if things got hairy during the battle.

Lili took a kick to her side that knocked the wind out of her; she rolled over, getting to her knees. She was able to send a fairly strong punch into the attacker's crotch for his trouble though. He stumbled back, Lars grabbing his arm, spinning him and taking him down, only to crush his neck under his heel. He dropped the limp arm afterward, helping Lili to her feet. She managed to roll out of the way again to hit another in his throat with a knife hand; this was enough to send him staggering back choking. Before she could strike him again, another appeared; she laid into him with a flurry of punches and kicks, before an upward palm hit his jaw hard, bloodying his mouth and sending him back against the wall; the hit against the side rendered him unconscious.

She could accept getting helped up once. Given the situation she felt she wasn't doing badly at all.

Lili turned, the man whose throat she hit was seemingly gone; he may have decided he had enough. She saw Sergei first strike a man in the side of the head with his brutal haymaker; afterward he followed with the deadly powerful roundhouse that she knew. Between his brute strength and his steel capped boot, it shattered the opponent's temple and some of his face with it, it seemed. There were about six other corpses around Sergei; she had been so busy she hadn't realized who he had plowed through. As usual, he was incredibly bloody.

She worked her brain for a second to try to think. Three retreated. I think I knocked out three. Lars took out three or four? Sergei six or seven? How many are...

She had to quickly duck out of the way of a knife; using the disarm method she had gotten good at, she quickly dislocated his elbow, swinging him around and giving him a kick in the back first, and then the of the head which was enough to send him flying forehead-first into the ground. He was seemingly out between the two blows.

Sergei had smashed one's face under his boot; one of his quick, no-nonsense...but incredibly nasty ways of dispatching an opponent. She could see the red run down from the caved-in area. She twitched a bit. I will never get completely used to that. Sergei saw the man she knocked out, though-and she caught a look of that pride he would get. He never said anything-he wasn't one for patronizing compliments. He thought she deserved more than that. He totally trusted her by his side in any battles they had been in.

She was quite impressed with the massive overhead kick Lars would perform; he could usually aim it squarely onto an opponent's face with enormous force; she knew Lars held immense power, despite his more athletic build. One blow was usually enough to shatter bones and snap the neck...he could get incredibly nasty results, though Lars generally did not look as bad as Sergei after a battle.

She hoped it would end soon, though. She was sore and she had taken a hit to her lip that she thought would swell it soon-Sergei and Lars both had visible knife wounds, Lars' nose was bloodied, though not broken, and Sergei had some blood coming from his mouth. The blood of the opponents was a bit more prevalent; Sergei's area in particular looked absolutely terrifying.

But she wasn't sure how much longer she could go on for. This was the first time she ever had to fight so long and hard. Eventually even the other two-hardened soldiers-could take enough wounds to slow them enough that if they came in with heavy firepower things could get ugly. Things could get ugly quickly if they brought in heavier firepower now. She was starting to get a bit scared, truth be told; this angered her, as since she did not like being afraid.

Lili caught four or so more guards out of the corner of her eye. after several more more were taken down or out between the three; it seemed Sullivan-whom she recognized-was in the middle.

"You!" She yelled.

Sergei and Lars were closer; they went directly for the guards, who quickly moved to try to protect Sullivan. She decided to take this chance to try to keep him from getting away.

As she dashed to him-the guards throwing him back-Lars grabbed a guard by the neck, lightning coursing his body as he snapped his neck single-handedly; Sergei came around with a leaping overhead heel to the side of another's head as he finished him with a stomp to the back of his skull as soon as he hit the ground. The other two began to somewhat back off; Lili had no idea what they did to them, but she certainly heard the sounds. She was too busy sliding in to sweep down Sullivan, causing him to tumble and roll clumsily. Lili found her feet, Sullivan getting up slowly as Lars and Sergei came to stand behind her.

Sullivan was trapped. All thirty or so of his men were taken out-either dead, knocked out cold, or dispersed somewhere far away to what was happening. Lili walked forward, striking him with a palm upward on his face; bloodying his nose and sending him stumbling back. She kicked him once in the chest, causing him to fall over again.

He can't even fight, she thought. She took the gun out of its holster and trained it on him.

"You tried to kill me and my father. Ruin my family. You would have killed us all here tonight."

Sullivan didn't even look apologetic. "The Mishima Zaibatsu is huge. Bigger than your corporation. You'll bend eventually."

She flicked the safety off the gun. At that, he began to look worried for a moment. He composed himself. "Think of what your daddy would say if he found out you killed me."

Lili thought for a moment, flicking the safety back on and holstering it. "You're right." No, he is. I couldn't kill someone. Even if he would come after my family again. I killed no guard tonight. Sergei or Lars may have finished some, but I left them either unconscious or they ran. After a moment of silence, she folded her arms.

"I won't do it." She turned toward Sergei, standing next to her. He was exceedingly bloody. "I'm going now. Take care of him as you see fit."

She saw Sullivan's face grow wide-eyed the moment he realized what she just did as she turned to walk off. Lars snorted at the man, turning around to follow her. Sergei walked forward, his boots leaving bloodied prints on the floor behind him. She heard the man scramble backward and squawk out something unintelligible before she opened the now-unlocked door to walk out.

She missed any other sounds that followed, though she could imagine exactly what was going on.

Did I order his death? Yes, yes I did. I didn't tell him to do it exactly, but I knew he would. I know what's going on in there. I apparently wasn't even hard enough to stick around to at least watch what I ordered.

Does that make me a killer? Did I word it that way to make sure I didn't actually say the words? Does it make me one if I know what Sergei will do?

It's my family. I love my family. I can protect us, too.

As she walked down the stairs-very sore and desperate for a shower-she remembered the night when she kissed him in the alley, even as he was bloody after dealing out more death to her family's enemies.

The night that it was ensured that he would be hers to command, even if he said nothing.

–

Back at the hotel, Lili ended up getting the longest, hottest shower she could remember. Besides it being rather nice on her sore muscles-she had to wonder how the people in tournaments fought multiple times a day or how Sergei could do it all day-it helped clean all of the dirt, the bit of blood, and also the sort of dirty feeling she got when she thought about ordering the man's death.

She had since sat down with a large spiked coffee, dressed in some casual clothes, sitting one of the large chairs in the suite. Sergei too had showered up-he had a lot to clean off of him. If he normally looked like he butchered people, Lili had no idea how many men died by his hand tonight. It was enough to make her sometimes think what exactly she had in him, as he had the same expression that he always did.

She almost felt guilty double-guessing him, though; she knew exactly what he was to her.

Sergei sat at a table, smoking cigarettes. He was looking over a few things, possibly mission notes or something of the sort. He seemed completely calm and fully unaffected by everything that had gone on that night. Lili couldn't understand how he could be that distant. She stood to walk toward the window, everything finally starting to hit her.

All of the threats, the moving about, the fighting, the deaths. She enjoyed fighting, but not particularly for her life. She liked to carry a gun now to feel safer. They had finally dug through the layers of everything, but it still wore on her.

Finally, after months, a tear slid down her cheek; she wiped it away. She felt Sergei shift behind her; he stood to walk over.

How did he know? Did he hear me sniffle or something? She thought she was quiet, but apparently not.

He stood next to her, tilting her head up. She didn't understand how he could so cold at a time like this. She smacked his chest lightly a few times. He wore his tank top, so she could still see a few of his recent cuts, as well as the healing bullet wound he had taken. He simply blinked, looking down at her.

"Why are you so calm? You were shot. I was cut. You were cut. I just ordered you to kill a man. Everything," she continued, another tear falling. It took her months, but the stress finally boiled over. "How can you stay so calm? Don't you care?!" Another tear fell from her eye. She wasn't panicking, she wasn't even enraged, she was frustrated and stressed...in addition to being quite sad that the two would not have too long together at this point until he had to leave again.

Sergei simply looked down, wiping a tear off of her face with his thumb. He said nothing still; after he wiped them away he pulled her closer. He didn't really know what to say; he was surprised it took her this long to finally let it all out. Even then, she was not bawling. She was stronger than she knew, he thought.

She had stopped hitting his chest already; it was just out of frustration for a few moments. She rest her head against him for a few moments quietly, She felt his hand run down the back of her head before wiping away the rest of her tears.

She calmed after a few more moments. She suspected that she had to finally just get some of that out. She let out a sad chuckle.

"That was...sudden," she said, looking up at him. He looked down, a slightly sad expression in his eyes. He nodded, touching under her chin.

"I'm sorry," he finally said.

"For what?"

"I wish...I could help more."

"You do more than you know, Sergei." She slid her hands to his sides. She looked down again. "I don't want you to go."

Sergei tilted her head up again, leaning in. He pressed his forehead to hers, finally kissing her deeply. She returned it, finally relaxing more. Much like that night where she kissed him in the alley, she sort of felt things starting to slide off of her-slowly, but it was working.

It broke as he ran his hand down her face. He didn't say anything, but she could tell by the look in his eyes what he was thinking.

Neither do I, they said.

He walked over to the bed to lie down; she lay next to him, her head on his chest. She didn't really need him to do anything else.

I never have to dirty my hands with him around. It's like I have all the power in the world. That's...scary. But...I'd never use him. Not like that. Tonight was different...he would have tried to kill me, I know.

Sergei was duty-bound to his motherland, she knew. But she also knew that he felt bound to her too...and for more than just duty. As she felt his hand run through her hair, she could tell It was much, much more.

He seemed like he wasn't going anywhere this night. She wished he wasn't going anywhere at all, but she long knew days like this would come. They did before, and they would again.

As she finally drifted off-the stressful night seemingly days past even though it was just a few hours before- she never saw him turn his head to look out the window, or how he closed his eyes and sighed sadly.

He looked back at her after a few moments, seeing how peaceful she looked now and smiled softly.

Sergei decided he would just enjoy the time left as much as he could.