A/N: Disclaimer: Refer back to Chapter 1.

WARNING: OOC, LAGUANGE, SUGGESTIVE SITUATIONS

Chapter 3: Cat and Mouse

Argilla stood upright suddenly as she heard a hissing noise. Her hair stood on one end.

"Gas…" she said impassively.

She began to cough soon after as she inhaled the fumes in the air.

Her head began to spin.

'Sleeping gas…?' she wanted to laugh at that, provided that her head didn't spin. 'Prick…'

That was the last thought that she had before she had been engulfed by slumber.

xxxxx

Heat opened the doors to her cell and there looked at her sleeping form on the floor. With cold eyes, he entered. He walked over to her and knelt, freeing her ankle from the shackle. He looked at her for a moment, suddenly held captive by her beauty…

His trembling hand came to touch her face and he felt his heart race at the contact. Her skin, although it was soft and smooth…was cold.

She had been ill, hadn't she?

With the least amount of effort, he lifted her off the ground and carried her out of the cell.

An hour later, he laid her body that was now wrapped in a towel on the makeshift bed slowly.

He had taken it upon himself to clean her up…giving her a warm bath. He shook then, as he touched her skin…His blood pumped furiously then, as he beheld her completely naked form in his arms.

Oh how he wanted to make love to her at that moment…

But he didn't…

Because if he did, he wanted her to be fully conscious about it. He wanted her to feel his passion, his lust…his desperation.

And then…he wondered…

What would she think of him then? Would she hate him? Or would she remember her place in his life…and perhaps…love him?

He looked at her with utter sympathy. It wasn't too late, a voice told him in his head. It wasn't too late to turn back.

She did not know of his identity…He could just…let her go, set her free and pretend that none of this had ever happened. But another part of him screamed at him, telling him that it wasn't right to let her go. It was telling him that it wasn't just to set her free.

'Has she set you free…? Hm…?' the voice taunted him. He said nothing and it continued, 'Has God decided to give you your freedom back…?'

That was the ace in the hole and the answer was a simple "no". He was still miserable…He was still there in the Junkyard. No. The voice was right. If he let her go now, he would never be able to forgive himself. It would just be showing weakness and nothing more.

He loomed over to her and closed his eyes, allowing himself to bask in her amorous scent. He let out a serene breath; a breath in utter contentment. She was so…angelic, wasn't she? She was just there, below him. He could take her…

He opened his eyes to get a better look at her. She had gone a lot paler than she originally was due to the lack of light…But aside from that, she had remained virtually unchanged. She was still beautiful in his eyes. But then again, hadn't she always been? He leaned in closer to her and closed his eyes, succumbing to the small request that his desire had been begging him.

A kiss.

Just a small harmless kiss would do. It would satiate his lust for her…for now. At least, until they had completed their game. His face moved closer to hers as he supported his own weight with his arms and elbows, and there…let his lips descend on hers, uninterrupted. He groaned in complete pleasure as he felt her soft and moist lips upon his. So, that had been what it felt like to touch her…to feel her…to kiss her.

No wonder he loved her. He pulled back a moment later, resisting the urge to pry her lips open with his tongue and venture within. He rose from his position and looked at her again, this time with malevolent intentions. He frowned and glared as he pondered about her intoxicating feel. If indeed, she felt this way to touch, to hold and kiss, then, it would be no surprise if others would seek her out as well.

There wouldn't have been problems had she remained faithful. But she didn't. She had strayed from the path of faithfulness and righteousness.

And that, was the reason why he would never let go of her.

Because of her act of treason, it had created a chain of events that had eventually led to him being sentenced in this God-forsaken land. Her treachery had been the catalyst of why he had been put where he was now. He too had wanted to commit murder; hadn't he? That was why she had killed him, wasn't it? She was probably protecting her lover…wasn't she?

"You ungrateful bitch…!" he lowly seethed, his voice a malevolent hiss, his face leaning on hers closely.

With a low growl, he rose from the bed and stood. He walked over to the door and looked back at her with a glare, "The game is on now…Don't die so easily…" he whispered before walking out completely.

xxxxx

Argilla awoke groggily. She yawned and stretched. Where was she? She fluttered her eyes open and there she realized that she wasn't on a hard and cold surface but on a firm and warm cushion. She blinked several times and there sat up. She looked down on herself and saw that she was wrapped in a white towel. Her hand immediately flew to its knot on instinct and there she felt that she was completely bare within it.

She felt refreshed and clean. Her captor…had bathed her. She blushed at that notion. Needless to say that he had most probably seen the whole of her. She gritted her teeth in that thought.

'Damn…Perverted prick…'

Mentally shaking the creepy thought of her peeping-tom of a captor, she focused on the room instead. He had taken her from the cell and into another room. It hadn't been like her previous one, she reckoned. This one wasn't enshrouded in darkness and possessed light. She looked around, still having her vision blurry as this was the first time in weeks that she had been able to perceive this intensity of light.

She blinked several times again, trying to get her eyes to focus. With her strong willpower, she succeeded. She looked around and saw her uniform by the chair. She slowly walked over to it and within moments, donned it on. She had seen her pins as well. Her captor knew her quite well…

Those were the pins that she used in order to keep her hair in tact. And so, taking them in her fingers, she arranged her hair accordingly.

On the simple table were two objects; a combat knife and a handgun.

She checked the clip and saw that it had only five bullets within. She cursed within. She wasn't as proficient with a handgun as she was with a rifle. The handgun. That had always been Serph's weapon of choice…She wondered. Where was he now? What was he doing? How long had it been…?

No. This was hardly the time to think of such things.

She looked at the two weapons once more. She narrowed her eyes as she was beginning to have an idea of what all of this was for; of what all of this situation was. This was…This was a game.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a voice penetrated the air. It was a male's voice through the intercom.

"Aa…You are ready." the voice said.

Argilla turned to seek the source of the voice but realized that it had been all around the room, echoing endlessly.

She even tried to figure out who the voice that was speaking to her belonged to but realized that it had been altered. Her captor did not wish to be identified just yet. She frowned and glared; she would find out eventually. When she caught him and had him at her mercy, she'd know and then, after that, she'd kick the crap out of him and make him sorry that she was the woman he had chosen for this sick little game of his.

"Who are you?" Argilla asked bravely.

"I could tell you. But I don't want to."

Argilla bared her teeth in annoyance, "What the fuck do you want with me!?" she yelled in profanity bluntly.

The voice laughed, "I want you to die."

Argilla sucked in a quick and sharp intake of breath but said nothing. He was lying and she knew it. If he really wanted her dead, he would've already killed her but he hadn't.

"You already have your gun and your knife. Your instructions are simple. Navigate through the halls and find your way out."

Argilla raised an eyebrow; that was it? No. It wouldn't be that easy. If she knew this sick person to be sick enough, then, he would've had this place booby-trapped. And then, at the end…he would be her opponent.

"If you win, you are free."

Argilla listened intently as the voice spoke once more.

"But, if you lose…you are mine." the voice said malevolently, stressing on the word "mine".

Argilla's blood ran cold at his last statement, but nonetheless, did not let it show. No. She would not lose. She'd kick the crap out of his sick and twisted ass.

She let out a calm breath. The thing was with this game was that pawns like her…they were never intended to win. So, even if she managed to navigate through the halls…he would never set her free. The only way to win was to catch him.

And so, putting the combat knife in its holster wrapped around her leg, she walked towards the door. She stopped right in front of it and glared at it. She wouldn't open it directly. If she didn't know any better, she would've marched right up to it and opened it, only to have something smash into her; like a log or a slab of concrete.

She looked around and saw the wooden chair. Without further thoughts, she smashed the chair against the table, taking in her hands one of its broken legs. She walked over to the door once more and proceeded to press herself against the wall beside its frame. And from there, she used the leg of the chair to push the button on the door, allowing it to open.

No sooner than she did, did a pointed spear enter the room at high speed, piercing the cool air pointblank…She narrowed her eyes but did not say anything. So, she had been right.

'That could have been me…' she thought with a slight sweat-drop.

The place was booby-trapped.

xxxxx

Heat chuckled as he sensed her form blindly walking through the halls. Most of the doors there were locked while some had traps…and some leading to new halls.

There was only one path that she should take to reach him.

But…she had no choice; she would have to use the process of elimination to succeed. Three weeks of watching her…Aa…he wasn't an idiot. He had been planning this for a while now.

He had been busying himself at setting up this maze from the very beginning…All for this day. He had starved her for a while to impair her judgment and to test the limitations of her psyche.

He had been a complete failure at that…

And because of his apparent confusing "care" for her, he had instead decided to spare her and feed her. But, to compensate for such display of weakness, he had decided instead to elaborate the situation and create this game. Wherein before her opponent would be the maze, now it would be the maze, the traps…and him.

He would be her last opponent.

She was a soldier after all. It would be a total waste if she fell before him without even using her skills…To fall in such an undignified manner…Even she did not deserve that. No. If she was to fall by his hand, it would be in actual combat.

Then, and only then would he really take pleasure in defeating her…in beating her…in breaking her. And then…after all that…

He would make her his again…

Yes; again.

She had been his woman in the last life. In this life, she would be his once more. But there would be an addendum. She would not betray him again. She would never again commit an act of treachery.

He would keep her there.

He would hide her from the rest of the world.

He smirked as he watched her dodge some more of his traps…

'Aa…so she saw that too eh?' he chuckled as he watched her avoid the shotgun-in-a-rat-trap tripwire.

One little mistake…and it could mean her life…Or worse. Yes. If his traps did not kill her, they would maim her beyond recognition and repair that she would prefer to die.

Yes…there were times wherein death was preferable to life…

He intertwined his fingers in front of his eyes, resting his elbows by the armrest as he continued to watch her. He was happy that she was doing quite well…At this rate, they would be able to meet…and then…they would be able to consummate their relationship.

What relationship?

He shrugged his shoulders, she had been his before and that would not change. And it would matter not to him if she remembered or not. He would bend her to his will…and there was no changing it.

xxxxx

Argilla pressed herself against the wall, tiptoeing as much as she could, making her steps as light as possible.

She had seen his traps and she must commend him for them. They had been elaborately set up and were concealed effectively.

Her heart quickened its pace as she realized that she had gone a total of three minutes and forty-eight seconds without encountering a trap.

She had been able to navigate through the maze successfully and she was now confident that she was heading at the right direction. 'It wouldn't be long now until I'm out of this shit hole!' she told herself, encouraging herself to continue onward without any ounce of complacency or pride.

No.

That was when people made mistakes…Whenever they would succeed, they become complacent, not knowing that the hardest test had still to arrive.

Well, for her, that test is nigh…She knew it; she could feel the end coming into being. And then, she would meet him. She would get to see whose eyes had been staring at her for weeks now…

She glowered; and when she did…she was going to kick his ass…

She hissed as she felt the floorboards, 'A pit…!' she screamed at herself, forcing her whole body to move with inhuman speed to retreat.

And retreat it did. The floorboards gave way and there she stared at the darkened pit. There were sharp spikes within. She gulped; that could have been her…

She shook her head and with a solemn deep breath, she leapt through her obstacle as graceful as a gazelle. She cursed again as the second set of floorboards, the ones she had landed on after her graceful leap, had too begun to give way.

'Another pit!' she mentally screamed.

There was no way to go back.

She fell…

She gritted her teeth; this trap would not kill her!

With her quick thinking, she grabbed the knife from her holster and stabbed it on the wall before her as she fell. That stopped her fall…

She held onto the knife for dear life.

She cursed. She looked up and saw that she wasn't that far down from the ledge. Mustering all of her strength, she pulled herself up, growling.

A moment later, she sat by the ledge, panting. She looked down at the pit and laid flat on the floor, reaching down so that she may retrieve her combat knife. She pulled it out and then slowly stood up, putting the knife back in its holster.

She needed all the weapons that she could get.

If things got out of hand with her captor, a knife would always be the best weapon. She looked at the two consecutive pits and scowled, 'Prick…'

She then shook her head and walked onward.

'Where are you, you asshole…?'

A few moments later, she had found the door…A single door that had yet to be opened. Her muscles tightened and she clenched her hands into fists. This was it. She grabbed her gun and held it hard.

He was beyond that door…

She could feel it.

She walked over to the button and made to touch it when she stopped. She quirked an eyebrow; this could be another trap. Pressing herself to the wall beside the door, she quickly pressed the button and retracted her arm hastily.

No.

She had been wrong…

There was…

No trap…

She narrowed her eyes and stole little peeks from the side of the wall. No. It was dark within the room…But she had no choice; she had to go in there…She took the liberty of glancing at the floor right by the door, looking for any signs of a tripwire. There was none. Boldly, she stepped into the room, as light as a feather and as nimble and agile as a cat…Her fingers felt for a light switch…

But she found none.

She let out a breath of exasperation. This was going to get difficult…and tricky.

"You're here." a male voice spoke within the dark room. Argilla stiffened; so, her captor had finally decided to reveal himself to her…She could only wonder as to his real identity. She had been dying of almost unbearable curiosity. Who was it that had done this to her? Who hated her so…?

And why?

"Finally…"

She stiffened as her eyes pierced the darkness, "Show yourself asshole…!" she challenged.

With her words, the room was suddenly lighted and there, her eyes widened.

"You…" she murmured in violent shock.

xxxxx