Try to Kiss the Skin that Crawls from You

A/N: Backstory time. Sort of, but Valen finally makes an appearance.

No matter what Valen always thought of Sandy as his. Only his. His prize fighter, his next big thing. Then, then Static showed up. Tainted her. Reminded her of the past.

Valen sighed as he looked at the recent picture he had of Sandy, standing over her opponent in the Strikeforce ring and he wanted her back.

He got out of bed, stretching as he headed to the bathroom. He tapped the very first photo he had of his ex-lover, right after her first bare-knuckle fight, and the look of fear she gave him when she lost.

But he had reassured her, as one does, that she'd get stronger. He had just wished she had stayed under his thumb for a bit longer instead of that blue moron's. But he knew just the person that would bring her back.

Sandy sat on the waiting bench as the tv played some movie. It had been weeks since Eli came to stay with them, and her nightmares had only gotten worse. Some parts of her confused Static for Valen so he was giving her space.

Her phone buzzed as she waited, a text from Static reading he'd be home late from work, so he made enough lunch to have it for dinner. A text from Eli once again apologizing for the mess he had gotten them into.

She sighed, standing up as Shadow called her name.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, closing the room door behind them.

"I'm, uh, good. I'm good jus' tired that's all." She replied, sitting up a bit straighter so she wouldn't start dozing off. "I have a fight comin' up n all, I can't be losin' sleep," she continued, her voice rising.

"I'll inform your physician," Shadow said, looking over Sandy. The bags under her eyes were more noticeable. "you didn't come here to get just your results back, did you? Your next sanctioned fight isn't until March."

Sandy's body sagged against the medical chair, of course, he'd still keep tabs of what went on in Strikeforce. "I. . ." she paused, taking in a shuddering breath. "You can't tell anyone else about this."

Shadow looked at his watch, waiting for her to continue.

"I used to…I am a bare-knuckle boxer, just. . .jus' until they get off my lil cousin's back about some loans and,"

"They can kick you out of the league for that kind of shit," Shadow interrupted, frown firmly fixed in place. "but it's not my business unless I make it mine."

Sandy nodded, twiddling her thumbs. "I'll leave again, soon as my cousin is in the clear, I'll leave." She said, however, it sounded more like she was saying to herself more than anything.

Shadow swallowed, knowing of his past with illegal fights. Then again, he was just a child back then. "I, as a fighter, I want to help. You don't deserve to go back, not when you're healing from it."

He wasn't sure if he was saying this as someone she knew or as a doctor, but it was true. No one deserved to be in that shit hole Von Barke created and abandoned.

Sandy's visit ended soon and Shadow got off work. He leaned against the steering wheel as he found the door to his home open, usually, Rune would go out the back door. This had to be some prank, there was no way someone would break into his home.

Shadow huffed, taking the safety off the gun he kept in the car as he got out. He lowered the gun as he found Rune in the living room laying down.

"Close the door next time you let yourself out," he mumbled, turning to close the door as Rune started growling and moving toward Shadow.

What had gotten into—his world went spotty for a moment as he hit the ground. The last thing Shadow saw was a man walking toward him.