Chapter Seven: Painful Reality

Every moment that the clock ticked, every second that the hollow pendulum crashed against the wooden sides of the old grandfather clock felt like another step towards eternity. Musty books gave the air the rotted stench of decay and dust, and time seemed to beat relentlessly against the two men who paced anxiously around the room. Finally, Quatre threw his hands up into the air and flopped down into a big armchair near a now cold fireplace.

"Trowa, we've been in here all night, and it's now four-thirty in the morning. I don't really think that pacing around in here is going to help any."

"You know you need to stay in here anyway, we can't take the risk that the night isn't quite over yet."

"And Wufei? What about him?"

"You know Yui will watch over him. Besides, Chang isn't without his own devices for self-defense. That man knows how to disarm more men with his hands alone than I know curses for killing."

"And what's he to use when he comes up against a curse? Obviously no hand to hand combat is going to be effective when fighting a hex." Quatre looked at his tall friend pointedly. Trowa paused, then glanced down at Quatre. His blonde friend had obviously been putting much thought—leading to much worry—into how his political comrade was surviving the night with assassins out to get him.

"Quatre, is it that hard to believe, that both Chang and Yui can fight against whatever assassin that hag Relena sends to get them? Chang and Yui? Logically, I feel sorry for our assassin more than I fear for anyone's life."

"Trowa, they are, after all, only humans. Even Yui, yes, no matter how well versed he is in spells, incantations, and the dark magiks, is only human. You are a sourcer, Relena is a witch. I've seen vampires, I've seen goblins, and I've even seen a werewolf—before he was completely transformed of course—Nonetheless, I have to say that even Yui is only human compared to whatever Relena's deranged mind can possibly concoct for an assassin. For all we know she sent a hybrid of some hideous creatures she found in a spell book that can rip out a human's eyes without blinking and eat their innards!" Quatre wearily raised a hand to his face and rubbed the bridge of his nose right between his eyes. Trowa caught a glimpse of the bloodshot and tired look Quatre wore engrained on his face, and sighed.

"Why don't we end this right now. I'm sure that neither Chang nor Yui have gone to sleep tonight, both are too hell bent on being vigilantes in this situation, so let's just call they up and find out what's been going down over there." The suggestion had an instant effect.

"Excellent idea Trowa!" Quatre jumped up smiling slightly. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"You were too busy mulling over the ways in which Relena could kill them?" Trowa deadpanned. Quatre shot him a sarcastic look and rolled his eyes.

"Funny. Should I just ring Wufei's home, or does Yui have a preference of cell phones…?"

"Just the home phone." Trowa nodded. Quatre picked up the receiver and dialed the number he had memorized, making sure he had pushed the speakerphone button so Trowa could listen and participate as well. Three long rings, and half of a fourth ring. A message machine picked up. Quatre stood still, worried at what that could mean. Had the two of them been murdered? Were they tied up an unable to reach the phone? Had they been…As the message machine beeped, the phone clicked and a human voice could be heard on the other end of the line.

"Hello?"

"Wufei, it's Quatre Winner."

"Winner, how are you? Seems like you survived your night of assassinations. Not very bright, is this White Witch bitch?" Quatre winced at Wufei's language, but Trowa merely smirked.

"Chang, sounds like you and Yui have things under control." Trowa chimed.

"Better than under control. We actually caught the little thing as she tried to sneak into my bedroom. Seems you and Yui had your information switched, they came after me tonight, which probably means that Winner, you'll be tomorrow tonight." Wufei laughed, and Quatre gave a nervous blast.

"Probably." He agreed nervously with Wufei. "So you actually caught… her, did you say? A woman? Just an ordinary woman?" Trowa frowned at Quatre's question. He wanted to know too, just a woman?

"Just a woman. At least as far as I know. We're not sure how she got past security yet; the only way we knew she was in the house is because of Hiiro and his insistent personality. He checked the entire house over, nonstop, from the moment he walked into the front door. If he hadn't happened to be upstairs, and he hadn't happened to have stopped to look at that picture I have of Relena the way she was a few years ago, then he never would have heard her coming in. It really was luck, and nothing more that let us catch her. Anyway, I'm sure Yui's up there knocking some sense into the little thing right now."

"Remind Yui not to kill her—we may need her cooperation to find exactly where the White Witch is hiding." Trowa reminded the Chinese man.

"I'll try. But she did try to kill me… it might slip my memory as I decide I want my revenge."

"She didn't actually get the chance to try to kill you Wufei," Quatre broke in. "She only got to the breaking and entering part, so try not to kill her, okay?"

"You're too damn soft-hearted Winner." He paused, then sighed. "I'll see what I can do. I can only make promises on my part—I wouldn't dare dream of stopping Yui if he had his heart set on something. But then, I'm sure you all understand that."

"We understand." Quatre nodded. "Good luck break her in then Wufei, I'll see you tomorrow at the offices." With that, the three hung up their phones.

"Well, feel better now Quatre?" Trowa asked his friend. The blonde nodded, and tiredly smiled.

"At least I know everyone's safe for tonight."

"You can go to sleep now you know, now that we've stopped the assassin, she can't come tomorrow night the way she was supposed to. Just rest."

"There's a guest room down the hall from—"

"From you, second on the left. I know Quatre; I've been here enough. I'll sleep too." With that, the two men left their barricaded cell and went up to their new rooms of dreams and freedom.

)(

"I suggest you reconsider forcing anything out of me." Serena paused. It would be a cold—no, frozen—day in hell when she let anyone besides her Mother order her around. Come to think of it, pigs would have to fly before she let anything slide. It wasn't as if she couldn't handle a beating. She'd been near death and back more times than she could count, she hadn't ever, not once, broken. This time would be no different. Except, this time it wasn't her Mother testing her, preparing her for reality—this was the reality. This was the real and true-life version of what she had trained and prepare for her whole life. This was what counted the most. And she would succeed—no questions or doubts laced her mind.

"Reconsider?" The man before her cracked his knuckles.

"All right then, do your worst." Serena managed a smirk. "Beat me to death if you like. Go right ahead. But do reconsider—because once you start, this will become a personal vendetta."

"You have me shaking in fear." His cold voice whispered, breath frosting the air around him as though it were mid-December.

"You should be." Serena narrowed her azure eyes and gazed into his own piercing prussian orbs. "I can make your life a miserable, living nightmare. Touch me, and all hell will break loose. Ever seen hell?"

"I hear it's lovely in the summer time." He growled. Was this little bitch trying to intimidate him? Was she very serious? Because from his point of view it looked like a simple gust of wind could knock the frail girl in front of him off her feet and onto the ground. And he was far more than a gust of wind—he was a hurricane who was terribly upset at the moment because a little waterspout thought she could possibly intimidate him. Without waiting for her to respond, he began to advance upon her. Noticing she stood her ground firmly and without flinching, he nodded to himself. It would be fun to break her. She seemed so sure now, when he wasn't actually causing pain. But the moment he began, he knew, she would dissolve into tears and tell him everything he wanted to know.

"Let's start with something fairly simple. Tell me, my little vindictive waterspout, what is your name?" Serena remained silent. Her eyes were glued to his form as he circled her like a vulture would a dead carcass. "What's your name little girl?" He growled.

She frowned, but never wavered. He raised his hand and smacked her across her face hard. Serena made no sound; simply rolled with the punch and took the pain in silently. He frowned. Grabbing her arms, he pulled them behind her back and swiftly, before she knew it, bound them together with a piece of electrical wire. "Once again, name!" His voice made her skin crawl.

"Go to hell." She spat in his eye. Hiiro carefully brushed the salvia away from his eye, slightly amused at the fact that she had aimed straight for his face and actual hit him on target. Then he grabbed her hair and began to drag her around the floor by it. Making sure to kick her a few times hard in the stomach, he held her up to face him once more.

"Name!" He demanded. Serena coughed, but said nothing. Hiiro cracked his knuckles. All right. She hadn't cracked as easily as he had expected. Then again, she had been sent by the White Witch, she couldn't have really been weak in the first place.

"Having fun Yui? I see you've already begun to question her." The door opened and shut quickly, locking sound following quickly.

"Out Chang. She wanted you dead, not a good idea to have you in here with her." Hiiro glared at his comrade.

"I don't think it matters much right now, it looks as though you've got everything under control Yui. She doesn't even look threatening."

"She isn't. I'm just beating the information out of her, and then we'll dispose of her."

"I'm to remind you that we need her for the location of the White Witch, Trowa's request."

"If I beat it out of her first, then we won't need her when we go to collect Darlian. She's a disposable commodity once I'm through with her, did you remind Winner and Barton of that?" Wufei grimaced. Yui was too dark for him sometimes. Even he, an excellent fighter and man who enjoyed watching all sorts of pain and torture, did not consider any human lives to be of an expendable nature.

"I gave them my word I wouldn't kill her. I also warned them that I had nothing to say where you were concerned. They understood, of course."

Serena, whom had been left sitting in the dark on the ground, listened to this exchange with interest. Yes, she was in mild pain. But this was just the beginning of the torture and hell she had been put through in training, so her mind and wits were still about her enough to fully comprehend the conversation that the two were holding before her.

She had already learned two new and interesting facts which would be of importance to her—one, Relena Darlian and her Mother were one in the same person, and two, all four of these men, Chang, Yui, Winner, and Barton, were all somehow connected with each other. To succeed in her mission, she might end up having to kill all four, with or without Duo's help. Barton… that man had the same last name as she did. Common names like that often threw her for a loop. She had never met another Serena, or Duo, but she had met plenty of Maxwellses and Bartonses. Back to the task at hand…

Her glazed over eyes picked out the form of Chang Wufei in the dark, and then zeroed in on him. Refocusing, she used her highly tuned senses to sharpen her vision and enhance her strength. As the men talked lightly, forgetting about their hostage, she worked her wrists in the knot. Finally, knowing time would run out soon, she whispered a few choice words, and a small flame leapt into the palm of her hand. Allowing the fire to spread to the rope, she felt the searing heat as the flickering orange, yellow, and blue flames baked, burned, and sizzled her skin along with the cord. As soon as the rope had burned enough to be weak, she managed to break out of the binding and lay back on the flames, smothering them from the sight of either man.

Knowing her weapons had been taken from her, she sought out a new form of pain inducing and death inviting toys. Memory plagued her, and she quickly scooted over the where she had dropped the picture and broken the glass earlier in the evening. Choosing a large sliver of jagged glass, she pretended to moan in pain. Momentarily both men looked at her, as if to be entertained by her human plight, but when they saw she had clammed up once more, they too turned back to there conversation. Just as she had hoped, now all their attention was focused away from her and on each other. Now was the time to strike.

Leaping gracefully and using a large push from her wings below her coat, Serena dove for Chang Wufei. Gracefully she slid through the air right past him, screaming in effort as she raked the clear glass shard through the soft, pliable flesh of his neck and main artery. Blood sprayed everywhere, and her had become covered in the thick, oozing liquid.

Hiiro, taking swift action, forgot about her and ran to the falling body of Wufei. Catching him before he hit the ground, he held the man in a slightly upright position and plugged the gash with his two fingers, thus stopping the blood flow. The nick had not been deep enough to completely sever the artery; just enough to nick it and create a substantial blood flow.

"I told you not to mess with me!" Serena shrieked. "No matter, my task is complete." With that, she turned and ran for the door. Instantly crashing through it, she made her way down the corridor, to where Hiiro could not tell. But he had more pressing matters to attend to.

"Shit! Wufei, stay awake!" He commanded. The Chinese man tried to speak, but only gurgled words and exclamations of pain and discomfort came from his mouth. Hiiro pulled out a small silver vile and, one handed, popped the cork which stopped the liquid inside from pouring out. Dumping it over the wound, he had to hold Wufei down as he writhed in pain. Sizzling and bubbling occurred instantly, and the smell of burning flesh wafted through the air. But it was not enough. Though it had been just a nick, it still spanned the whole of Wufei's neck, and closing one artery would not stop all of the bleeding. From him other pocket Hiiro pulled out a small black cell phone.

"911? I need an ambulance at the Chang mansion… he's alive but in critical condition… his throat was slashed by an intruder…"

Sorry this took so long everyone! But it's here, and that's what's important! I hope you all like it so far; Angellight88 and I have been working very hard on it! Please review and tell us both what you think! Much love, Vixen