Disclaimer: You know the drill...blah blah...don't own Rebirth...characters...but Serena, Asher, etc. are mine...repeat...MINE!

Fallen Angel

Chapter 8

A.N. Italics in this chapter are flashbacks! Not Dreams! Oh, and I'm not sure how lone the flashback chapters are gonna be. I guess I'm gonna do what Woo did in the original Rebirth and piss everybody off by going, and staying for a while, to the past. evil laugh Just Kidding!

'A week!' thought Desh as he made his way through the underground complex under the mansion. 'We have to wait a week for that woman to begin!' He thought back to what she had said 5 days ago:

Flashback

"I will need something of his. Anything he might have handled."

Desh and Rett looked at her in disbelief. Desh exploded first, "We don't have anything like that! We wouldn't even know where to look for something like that." The woman, Serena, chuckled. "Don't worry Deshwitat. There is a reason I'm considered the best at what I do. I will only need memories."

"What do you mean 'memories'?" asked Rett.

"I will need everything you can remember about Kalutika; before and after the transformation. I will need the memories of three people though..." she trailed off.

"Uh...there are only two people, namely me and Desh, who remember him."

The psychic closed her eyes. Her expression was pained. "I was hoping you wouldn't say that but I anticipated it. I already have the alternative set up. She has agreed to help you."

Desh looked at her sharply. "What do you mean? Who?"

"Instead of having three people contributing memories, I will have two and someone to intensify the memories. There is only one person I am willing to that with since it can have...complications. Lucky for you, she happens to sympathize with you and is on her way, in a matter of speaking," she explained.

End of Flashback

'And she never told me 'who' either.' He growled out loud as he halted outside a steel door marked "Training Room 125." 'What did Asher want to show me I wonder?' He shrugged and opened the door. And...

SHWOOSH!

"What the HELL!" he yelled as something just missed hitting him in the head. He prepared himself for a fight, but a familiar voice exclaimed, "SORRY!"

"Remi? What the hell was that?" He turned toward the voice which was coming from... 'behind me? Wha—' Desh found himself staring down at the girl as she dragged herself off the floor rubbing her back, and then her hip, while holding her head.

"Uh...that was me getting thrown into a wall by Asher," she winced, "if you really want to know. What are you doing here, by the way?" She walked passed him to a sparring area in the middle of the room. Asher stood waiting for her. She scowled at him. "That was so not cool, you blood-sucking jerk," she muttered. "I thought you knew I can't go at that pace yet. Not until after tomorrow." He stared at her.

"You wanted to talk to me?" Desh interrupted. He took note of all the scrapes and bruises on the girls body. 'So that's why she's been wearing long sleeves and pants.'

"Go take a break, Princesse," Asher instructed, keeping his eyes on Desh. "You're due to see Miss Serena soon anyway."

"If you say so..." Remi looked between the two vampires. "Ok, I'll leave. I can take a hint. See ya around." She walked out, shutting the door on her way out.

Desh approached the other vampire and took the seat that he motioned to at the edge of the ring. "Well, what is it?"

"It may not be wise, but I believe you should be told. What I am about to tell you goes no further than this room, is this understood?" Asher's voice was soft, careful. Desh nodded, curious. "It is about what I am sure you have been trying to figure out since you got here. It is about how Remi came to be a part of the, how do you say, family."

"Just one question."

"What?" Asher asked, irritated.

"Why does she like you and hate me? I thought she hated all vampires."

Asher chuckled. "She did, but then she came here and learned to accept me and our kind. To a point that is... Anyway, it all began when Remi was 7 years of age...

Meanwhile...

Remi went to her room to take a shower. She stepped into the hot spray of water. 'Your gonna tell him about it all, about how it all happened...' She sank to the floor as the water ran over her bruised body as the memories crashed into her...

Flashback

A seven-year-old Remi was walking down a country road hand-in-hand with her mother. Remi tugged on her mother's hand. "Mommy?"

The woman turned to her, her strange, silvery eyes shining with affection. "Yes, sweetie?"

"I wanna g—"Remi's words were cut off as strong hands grabbed her and pressed a cloth over her mouth and nose. Her mother screamed and reached out for her, but another attacker grabbed her as well. Her mother began to struggle and fight, trying to use her powers and save herself and her daughter. Remi felt tired, but she too struggled against the unyielding hands restraining her. A strange smell caught her senses and then she knew nothing but darkness.

Remi groaned as she awoke. She tried to move but found herself tied up; her hands behind her back, attached to a pole of some kind, and her ankles tied together to a small steel lope in the concrete floor. She looked around for her mother and found her, also tied up, opposite of her. She was not awake yet. She fought against her bonds, but, young and weak as she was, all she did was bloody her wrists a little. She froze with terror as she heard footsteps. She struggled harder.

4 men entered the concrete room. The first one said, "The little girl's awake."

The second responded, "Then I guess we should wake up mommy, right boys?" They all laughed. Remi shivered. There was something strange about the men. She knew the difference between human and other things, her mom had taught her, but she was so afraid that she forgot all that her mom had trained her to do if she was ever in trouble. The second man knelt down next to the woman and slapped her hard. Again and again, until she finally woke up. The woman groaned in pain. The man grinned and stood up.

Another of the men, the smallest, said, "The boss wants the woman first. He said he wanted her undamaged."

The last man asked, "What about the little girl, Antonio?"

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Mrs. Do shouted at the men as she threw herself against the chain around her body. The second man knelt down again. He slapped her, again, and was about to do so a second time when the other, Antonio, grabbed his arm and shook his head. The second man shrugged and stood up.

Antonio looked at the woman as he spoke, "We are to torture her as a...prelude to the woman's. He said anything we like, up to a certain point. We are not allowed to kill the child, yet that is. Otherwise, anything goes."

"Well, well, well. This might be fun after all..." the first man said quietly. Remi couldn't stop shaking, she was so afraid. She looked at her mom. "Mommy! Help! What's goin on Mommy!" She started to cry. Her mom was crying too. She thrashed against the chains, trying to reach her daughter. Antonio knelt beside her and held her head still, making sure she was watching the other three men approach Remi. That began the next few hours of burns, beatings, and cuts for the seven-year-old. She passed out around the fifth hour; for the men had been careful to make sure she stayed conscious through it all. Antonio had made sure that Mrs. Do saw it all as well. After the girl passed out he detached her from the pole and the floor and tossed her over his shoulder. She struggled wildly, still trying to reach her daughter.

"A little feisty, aren't you?" he grunted as he lead the others out of the room. He brought the woman to the boss's room

Remi came to a few hours after the men had taken her mother. "Mommy?" she whispered. She looked around, tears running down her bruised and bloody face. The bite marks on her neck and shoulders burned. 'Vampires...' she thought. 'Mommy told me about vampires...' The door opened and she cringed. The men from before walked in, followed by another that was carrying her mother.

"MOMMY!" she shouted. She tried to move but remembered she was tied up. She stared, afraid, at the new man and her mom. Her mother's clothing was torn and bloody, especially her skirt. She was bruised and cut, and she too had bite marks in her neck. She was unconscious. The man looked at her. His red eyes were filled with...Remi didn't know what. She just knew that it made her afraid. She tried desperately to remember what her mom had told her about vampires, but her fear was so great that she could not remember anything more than that they could only come out at night and that they drank blood.

He dropped the woman on the floor and kicked her once. Remi screamed. He kicked her again and again and again. Then her turned and advanced on the little girl. She had not stopped screaming. He kicked her as well. The breath was knocked out of her and she struggled for breath. He continued to beat her with his feet, and then his fists, and then a metal pipe, for what felt like hours until Remi, again slipped into unconsciousness, away from the nightmarish reality into hellish dreams.

End Flashback

Desh was stunned. 'Why didn't she say anything? She never gave any indication to this kind of nightmare. Why...?' He looked at Asher. Asher looked back at him with pain filled eyes. "Did they..." Desh didn't know how to say it without saying it. He realized he couldn't. He tried again, "Did they rape her?"

"Non, just her mother." His face was tight with anger. "It went on for a little over a week. Day after day, the same thing. They beat and tortured them in all ways imaginable." He became silent.

"She never said..." Deshwitat trailed off. "She wouldn't have. She always kept it inside her. The only reason I know is because Serena told me. I couldn't figure out why she hated and feared me with such ferocity and told Serena as much. That's when she told me. After that, I made more of an effort to befriend her." Asher said.

Desh examined the other man. He sensed something was off. He thought, but no...Why would he? "You're lying. You're not telling me the whole story." Desh was getting angry now.

Asher looked at him tiredly. Desh felt his building rage diminish. The vampire's eyes were... 'Sad, pained, tired' Desh thought. "Oui. That is so. I cannot tell you everything, not without her permission and not until, at least, after tomorrow."

"What do you mean?"

"You will understand when the time comes, mon ami. Now, would you like me to continue?" Asher gave him a small, exhausted smile. Desh nodded. "She went to stay with her mother's family after the police found her. She was holding her mother's dead body, shaking, covered in both of their blood. She showed up here when she was about 10 ½ years old. Father Dominic was the current, how do you say, leader of the Night's Guardians Organization at the time..."

Flashback

A young girl stood at the door of the large house. She knocked, hard, on the large oak doors. They were flung open by a girl who seemed about her age. She looked at her and smiled. "We've been waiting for you, Miss Do. Please come in. Father Dom said to take you to him as soon as you arrived. Oh, and my name is Serena Chandler, by the way."

Remi followed Serena inside. She whistled. "Nice place," she commented. Serena smiled and said, "Yep." She led Remi down a hallway to an elevator that looked very out of place in the Victorian-styled house. Serena pressed the "L1" button and the elevator lurched and carried them downward.

Remi was taken to an office at the end of yet another hallway. There were two people inside. The first, an older man, in his 40's, sat behind the desk. He had silvering dark brown hair and brown eyes. He wore a priest's collar. She recognized what the other man was immediately and suppressed a shudder. She wouldn't be afraid, not any more. The priest rose and spread his arms, a welcoming gesture. "Welcome, child. I am pleased to finally meet you. I am Dominic Grimaldi, head of the Night's Guardians Organization"

Remi bowed, hand over heart as her uncle had instructed her. It was a greeting of respect. "I am honored, Father. As you already know, my name is Remi Do and I come seeking training." She was a little nervous. She didn't know what to expect from these people and that...vampire, was not helping her concentration.

The man looked at her and nodded, becoming serious. "Yes, but first let me explain to you exactly what our organization does. We, as our name suggests, are mainly protectors for those that cannot protect themselves. But we are also hunters and assassins. We deal strictly in the supernatural and have many beings on our staff. We hire witches, priests, sorcerers, necromancers, vampires, demons, elves, fearies, anything you can name we have. We also hunt these same types of people, but make no mistake; no member of this team will ever attack you with the intention of killing you. We all have one goal, and that is to defeat those that prey on the innocent. Do you understand?" Remi nodded. "Do you still wish to join us?" Remi nodded again. Dominic held her gaze then nodded as well. He motioned to the vampire. "Meet your new instructor, Asher." Remi, by some miracle, managed to keep her face blank. She bowed.

Dominic motioned to Serena as well. "You've already met Serena so I will assign you a room in her wing. I hope you will get along better than the last girl." He glared at Serena who made a face and said, "Not my fault she couldn't handle a few flames. How was I supposed to know how bad she'd react?" She made an effort to look innocent. Dominic gave a "harrumph" type sound and looked disapproving. Remi suppressed a giggle. Serena grabbed her hand and led her out of the office.

End Flashback

Remi roused herself out of her reverie and pulled herself to her feet. The water in the shower was icy. She shivered as she turned off the water. 'I wonder what he will think...' she thought as she got dressed and went to talk to Serry.

Princesse—princess

Non—no

Oui—yes

Mon ami—my friend

A.N. All these phrases and words are French.