PAIN:

***Four Years Later***

***Reyes POV***

Pain has been a serious pain in the ass recently. Torin, Keeper of Disease, would have been proud of me for the pun, except it's not funny. The usual slice-and-dice across my body isn't helping to ease Pain's whiny yet insistent demands, nothing is. I've become more irritable. Angry. Inhospitable. A pain in the ass to everyone around me. And a threat to my family.

Ever since Renier was born I vowed I would never lose control of Pain. For my sake. For Danika's sake. For Renier's sake. My family is just too important to me.

Lucien, Keeper of the demon Death and our leader, along with Sabin, Keeper of Doubt, isn't going to be pleased when he hears my request, namely because it could jeopardize our mission- at least weaken our ranks. I'm not saying that to be arrogant, we- Lords of the Underworld- just need all the help and forces we can get with the war against the Hunters- Dean Stefano and Galen- and the race to get Pandora's Box. They aren't going to be happy at all, but my restraint is vital for the safety of my family and friends.

I'm sitting at the dining table, driving a serrated kitchen knife deeper into my flesh, hoping for relief from my demon. Hoping his demands will lessen, consoled by my physical agony. But no luck. Unfortunately I'll need to follow through with my original crippling plan. I'll need to quarantine myself away from my family. Keep them safe from my corrupt self.

As I continue grinding the knife into my skin- it's now scraping against bone- Lucien walked into the room I occupied, flanked by Sabin and Strider. They spotted my blood coated form and stopped, staring. Even though the wounds I'm not currently working on creating have healed the blood remained, leaving evidence to my recent activities.

"My gods, Reyes," Lucien exclaims upon registering the carnage I've administered to myself. They're used seeing me in this state, but I usually tend to clean up after myself, never leaving too much to see or examine. Now, I must appear a mess. He jerks his chin, a signal for me to follow.

I go to stand, but the damage I've done to the muscle and bone in my thigh hasn't healed since I jerked out the knife literally a second ago, and I stumble. Usually I'm prepared for anything, even my body going lame, but Pain has distracted me, making me a liability. Weakly, I begin to limp behind Lucien. Shooting electrifying pains shoot through my leg, causing me to wince. I must have sliced through a nerve. The pain slightly lulled Pains presence, though by slightly I mean hardly at all. If this continues I'm tempted to jump off the top of our fortress again and let Anya and Paris play Hide-Reyes's-Splattered-Gray-Matter with the goop of my brain- usually they'd hide my pancreas, but maybe missing and having to regenerate chunks of my brain will satisfy Pain- but I don't want Renier to come find me in that beaten, bruised, scathed, and pancaked state. There's no way I'll put him through that.

Noticing my struggle Strider places a hand on my shoulder, offering a guiding hand as we follow Lucien's fleeting form. We remain behind him, as he leads us into one of the many lounges, baby-proofed after Renier's birth. My stomach tugs at the thought of my son. I'm thankful he is at the park with Danika, instead of in he fortress, liable to walk in here and witness me at my lowest in thousands of years.

Strider tries to help me across the room, but I break away from him- my legs tissue stitching itself back together now- and sit on the couch. The pain and injuries I inflict on myself usually- usually
- sates my demon, but always leaves me weakened.

Lucien eyes me worriedly with his mismatched eyes, sensing my distress. "I haven't seen you this bent out of shape in millennia," he remarked.

"Yes." Lucien, being one of the first of the warriors to gain a resemblance of control over his demon, has always been a sort of anchor to me, and probably the rest of the warriors. I couldn't lie to him, even if I wanted to.

"Why?"

"Don't know," I state honestly. Lucien's concern as my leader and a friend was obvious. I wanted to cringe at the distress I've caused. Even though I haven't shared my concerns with Danika, she has noticed. "Lucien, I have a request for you."

Lucien's eyebrows crunch together, distant curiosity swimming in his one blue and one brown eye. He nodded, urging me to continue.

"I want you to lock me up, somewhere."

All three warriors- Lucien, Sabin, and Strider- in the room jumped in unison. "What?" they demanded.

I just stare, challenging their disbelief. "It needs to be done. I'm a danger." I try to ease the nervousness by confirming the reality. My family isn't safe with me in this state, without restraints.

"No!" Sabin demands. "Okay, your a danger. Use that against Hunters, don't just suppress it. Are you really going to jeopardize the mission because Pain is acting up?We need you." Sabin, always the warrior, see's perfection and opportunity in destruction, as long as it can be channeled to enemies. I can't blame him really, if I wasn't so combustible I would definitely be a handy weapon for the cause. But the war isn't my first priority right now. My family is. My wife and my son.

"It's not me I'm worried about." Sabin doesn't feel the need to protect his Harpy girlfriend, Gwen- and has no child. She has proven herself a worthy warrior against enemies and Sabin himself. While I don't one minute doubt Danika's strength- she birthed my child for gods' sakes!- I don't want to put her or my son in the position where they will need to fight me or protect themselves from me. I might as well extinguish the threat while it's a simple flame on a match, ignited by forces hire than myself.

Lucien stared at me with understanding, though I could see the disappointment is his eyes. The battle against the Hunters is just as important to him as it is to Sabin, me, or any of the rest of the warriors, but he knows my position. I'm torn between the duty of my friends and my family and even though my friends are important family is the top of my list right now. "Very well, then. We'll restrain you in the dungeon downstairs."

Sabin, though disappointed, didn't argue with Lucien. He only stared at me solemnly, as if now my true intention so protect my family was revealed.

I was hoping for something more distant and exotic. Away from the people I love that can be harmed by Pain's influence over me. But I didn't argue. Better this than nothing.

Strider cleared his throat, the first time he spoke in this entire ordeal. "That's all fine with me. I mean, sure it sucks balls, but I know you want to protect your family and all, so I can't really change your kind on that, but what do you expect us to tell Danika?"

I never thought that far. I really expected to have more time to think everything through, but they agreed sooner than expected. "Uh-"

"Tell Danika what?" A female voice questioned. "And what the hell happened to you."

I didn't have to look to know who it was, but I couldn't help myself. Danika walked gracefully into the room, bouncing Renier on her hip. The child was fast asleep in his mothers arms, flushed from the exertion at the park. The kid can play hard, then nap hard, that's for sure.

My body closes up on itself trying to hide the dried blood on my body as good as possible. Even though the wounds are healed I feel disgusted with myself, in the company of my sleeping son. I'm not the knight in shining armor I promised to be. He expects me to be.

There's no going back now. The warriors all step away, leaving me alone to confront my woman. "Honey, they... Uh.. They are locking me in the dungeon." There. Done. Finished. Over. Never to be spoke of again.

Only that's not the case. "Bull-"

Danika's protest was interrupted by Lucien's calming voice. "Danika, Reyes feels that this is a necessary action to keep you and Renier safe. It's already been agreed upon."

She looks at me in disbelief. "Why?"

"Pain is pulling the strings."

"Oh," she exclaimed. Then, "Why didn't you tell me?"

I thought for a while them as I was about to say because I was ashamed or some sappy romance words like that, I was being shepherded away by the three warriors to the dungeon. . I was angry at first. A angry that they left Danika with a worried look on her face as I passed. Angry that I never finished the conversation. Angry at everything. But that anger transformed into shame as I seen my reflection as I passed a mirror in the hall. Pain was definitely pulling the strings. The essence of Pain's skeletal features lay just beneath the surface of my skin, threatening to overtake me, my body, and my conscious, resulting in destruction of everything I love to follow my every move. The fact that they moved me before I lost myself was now a blessing. I wouldn't lose control with Danika or Ren around, I promised.

Squaring my shoulders I march into the dungeon with the warriors. Metal clangs as they chain me into my cell. My stomach lurches as I wait for Pain's fury to pass in the dark cell in the dungeon of the Budapest Fortress, my new home for who knew how long.