"Alexandera? Alexandera, are you okay? May we come in?" A soft voice asked over the sound of hushed whimpering. The light flipped on and, standing in the doorway of the young girl's door were her older brothers, Dromio, Antipholus, and Lysander. She lay face-down on her bed, the small child crying quite tears as the three young man entered her room. They were young men, but old enough to know the full reality of the world around them, including the wrong-doings of their own father. Each man looked on her with grief and anger at her state. A nurse had already come to care for the wounds infliced upon her by the maddened beatings from their father. The poor child had a black eye and about five cane lashes across her back, three of which were bloody mars on soft peach skin. They stood, struck by the sight of their only sister in such a condition, and though teeth were clenched and fists was balled, there was really nothing they could do. They came to sit with her, to time after time, wipe the blood off her body, and speak comforting words into young, impressionable ears. Her only crime was disobeying, voicing her opinions, exercising her right to have a choice, and the brothers knew that sooner rather than later, their younger sister would lose her will and become the obedient. It ws inevitable.

"There has to be something we can do," Antipholus, the middle brother, said quietly as he wiped a wet rag across his baby's sister's scarred back.

"We must rise in the ranks. Appeal to the Vongola. We have no power right now, but once we attain it, we can take Alexandera and get out." Lysander said. As the eldest, he was already working under the Vongola. he shook his head and turned blue eyes to the youngest brother, who stood across the room with his arms across his chest, a scowl on his face as he watched the other two care for the little girl.

"This is God Damned rediculous," he snarled, and with a pained glance, turned from his siblings. "You're taking too long, Lysander. Stop taking your fucking precious time and appeal already!"

"You know I can't do that. I'm too low ranked. No one would listen to me."

"Then i'll make them listen!" Dromio said. He strode over to Alexandera, who had remained silent though the whole thing, lying flat with her hands near her face, eyes leaking a never-ending stream of tears onto her pillow silently. Steady breathing was only interrupted when Antipholus tapped her wounds with the cold towel. Dromio wiped a finger across her cheek and caught a tear. With an angry huff, he spun on his heel and cst his brothers one last resnetful glance. "I'll do it myself since you both prove yourselves to be useless."

He stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him.

With a start, Alexandera shot up. Had she fallen asleep? She sat with her arms crossed on the glass table in front of her and a groggy look on her face. She focused her tired eyes and looked across from her, out to the shooting range where Xanxus stood, the entire area surrounded by Vongola men. His guns were blazing in his hands as he shot at various targets all around the area. Improving his aim after a while on house arrst and confined to his room. the shattering sound of a target must have been what woke her. With a weary sigh and a groggy face, she propped one arm up and rested her face in her palm. It had been a while since she had thought about that night when she was ten. That was the last time all four of them had been in the same room together. The Voltaire siblings all together. She had seen them all often, but never all together. That day had been the true end to her childhood. She heard Xanxus cussing out a storm at someone who wasn't switching out targets fast enough and even firing a few shots at the poor man. Alecandera groaned and then dropped her head down onto the glass tanle with a dejected 'thump'.

Sitting at another tabl not too far from her were a few of the core Varia members. Belphegor watched her closely from behind his curtain of bangs, and grinning at Lussuria and Marmon, laughed. "How long do you think it'll be?"

"Until what, exactly?" Marmon asked, sitting on the table and counting out bills and taking notes in a small checkbook.

"She's goes insane."

"Truthfully, she must already be insane. It's practically a requirement for Varia."

"True. Still, she's quite sane. I think that being around Xanxus so much is going to drive her truly mad. Then she'll be like us." bel smiled at the thought of an insane Xander. After all, the only side of her he had ever seen was the quiet, patient, unappealing side. She was too mature to be in the Varia. It was boring. An image of Xander flitted through his mind, her face twisted in a wicked grin, her guns in her hand loosening a rain of bullets upon unsuspecting victims. The blood flew. He looked over at the actual woman, who had gotten up to go save the poor man being strangled by Xanxus.

"I kind of feel bad for the poor girl," Lussuria said with a small chuckle. "I'm mean, can't say i'm not jealous. She gets to spend a lot of time with Boss, but... He can't treat her very well." Marmon looked up from his booking briefly and the three of them watched from afar, not quite catching the words exchanged, other than Xanxus's cussing, as his voice was quite loud. From what they could tell, Alexandera had simply walked up and Xanxus directed his anger onto her. The other man had scampered away and Xanxus stood screaming at the young woman, who simpy stood there was a blank face and a slight twitch in the corner of her lips.

"I'M SURROUNDED BY TRASH THAT CAN'T FUCKING CHANGE OUT A DAMNED TARGET!" He yelled, twisting his arm and firing another couple if shots at the heels of the retreating man. The Varia watchd as Xander sagged her shoulders slightly and then recieved more yelling from Xanxus. "THINK YOU CAN DO BETTER, BITCH? Why don't you go play target then?!"

"I find it rather amusing that way that Xander is so..." Belphegor thought for the appropriate term. "Obedient. Have you noticed?"

"I have." Marmon confessed, stashing his stuff in his coat and watching with little interest as Xander made her way out to the middle of the field and held a pottery plate above her head with an expression that showed how absolutely thrilled she was to be playing target for Xanxus. "One would think she would be a little more scared. He'd kill her in a second if he wanted to."

Xander stood still as Xanxus raised his guns and fired quickly, shattering the plate. She did not move. He yelled at her about how placid she was (though his words a bit more colorful) and let loose a flurry of bullets all around her. His intentionw as to intimidate, but the Varia could see that it wasn't working. Belphegor wondered just what was wrong with her. Perhaps she really was just bored, and if that was the case, then she truly was insane. Or, maybe, she just did not have the will to live. Maybe Xander had no fear of death. Dying would just be a convenience. That was a great possibility. Each of the three had their own ideas about what could be the answer. Belphegor figured that she was just mad. Mad for enraging the Boss so often, for incuring his wrath upon her until she was hurt. But then again, he had not ever hurt her severely, and that was because she always did what she was told. The Prince just could not figure out what went through that woman's mind. Lussuria figured that it was simple attarction. Xander must have been some form of masochist and enjoyed it when Xancus got angry and violent. Now, that was a girl that he could grow to like, someone who wore their sexual preferences right on their sleeves. Marmon, however, went with the previous ideas of her being immune to death. She had nothing to live for and thus cared not for her own lif. she was immune to death, it seemed. However, this conclusion led to another question: What had happened to her?

Xander was not in the mood for games. Xanxus was acting like a little toddler not getting his way. She stood solid, holding her ground as the bullet blew past her, picking up such speeds and coming so close that it blew her short hair back. Her violet eyes focused on her leader, his red eyes mad with frustration and his determination to frighten her, which was not working. Xander had half a mind to give him what he wanted, which was fear. Put on a facade of womanly cowering, and perhaps he would get his sadistic fill. Seeing a woman cower and cry? No doubt he was one of those men that enjoyed the sight. The sardonic young woman breathed in a sight and looked up again only to see Xanxus pointing the gun directly at her. Even at the distance they were at, she locked his gaze and saw his intention. The shot was fired, and she moved her head split seconds before it got splattered by his bullet. That shot was aimed to kill. She wanted to look behind her, but kept her gaze trained on Xanxus. Suddenly, he was actually aiming her. Apparently, her standing around had bored him to the point of attempted murder. Xander was moving now, running about and slowly weaving her way to him. She could have been dead by now if Xanxus had wanted a real fight. This was just shooting though. In the final rush, she got to him and pulled out her gun. However, she was not fast enough. He shot at the gun, which basically exploded in her hand, and her exceleration could not be stopped in time. Before she could move out of his way, he shot a hand out and caught her around the neck, holding her hard and lifting her off the ground.

"Nice try. It was good run, i'll give you that. However, shit like that is going to get you killed in the field. You should stay in the kitchen where you damn well belong, woman." He gave her a smug smirk and then dropped her down. Xander massaged her neck and pulled in a deep breath of air. "Now, why don't you make your skinny ass useful, trash, and get me something to eat. I've worked up an appetite thanks to your fucking little stunt there."

As Xander shot him an angry glare, but nevertheless left to do his bidding, the other varia members simply watched her go. They exchanged questionable looks, knowing that she had come pretty close to winning that. They reassured themselves that it was just because Xanxus was still injured. The only reason she got that close to him was because of his injuries. Otherwise, he would have finished her before it had even began. They decided not to mention it just as Xanxus came over to join them with a scowl on his face.

Xander stormed into the building, a fire in her eyes. she had never been so mad in her life! That damned bigot! She was furious that he could make such a statement. If had not completely destroyed that gun in her hand, she would have shoved it down his throat and made him choke on it. Of course, she had not even thought to pull out her second one, as an actual fight was not what she had been looking for. Being as absolutely humiliated as she was, all she could think to do was do what he had rodered. Get him food. Is this what she had trained her entire life as an expert marksman with some special abilities for? To be reduced to a private slave to some profane hotshot with an ego the size of Italy? She had not sworn on the faith of her beloved brothers to end up here.

With a huff, she strode through the enterance hall on her way to the kitchen. Her violet eyes caught sight of two men conversing in the doorway, and she recognized them as Levi and Squalo. The two of them turned to see her and each reacted differently. Levi frowned at her sight, and she knew him as another bigot. 'Great. Another man who thinks that woman should stay as domesticated little lambs, useful for only two things: cooking and sex.' The thought made her angries, and though she put on a stoic expression, Squalo could see the rage burning in her eyes.

"You know, Dromio always had that same look," Squalo said with a wicked smirk. "Little asshole was always making a fuss of everything. He was too damn loud."

Xander could not help but scoff at his blatant hypocracy. Squalo had no room to be talking about her older brother's lack of volume control. She brushed past them to get into the kitchen, but not before Squalo caught hold of her shoulder. "Hey, you should be a little more grateful, kid. People kill to get into the Varia."

"I believe that was before you got your asses handed to you by a fifteen-year-old." Xander's words stung Squalo so much that he let go of her as if she were toxic waste. He threw a disguted look at her and let her continue into the kitchen. He glared after her and then crossed his arms in fury.

"Bitch has got some bite to her. I can appreciate that in a lovely woman." Levi cast a sarcastic smile and then the two began to move.

"Please. She looks like a frickin' drag queen."

"Yeah, 'cuz you've got room to talk, lockes."

"Shut the hell up and move your ass. Xanxus is waiting for us outside. He said he had something to discuss with the core Varia, excluding my sweet baby cousin."

The sound of Dromio's name leaving the lips of Squalo had put Xander in an even more foul mood. Was being an asshole a requirement for the Varia or something? She held disdain for each and every member, and there were only six left. Xander made seven, but she hardly counted herself as a part of them. After all, it had not been her choice to become one of them. It had been her obligation, one she could not refuse. Standing with the chef in silence as she stacked food onto a silver platter, she couldn't help but wonder where all her pride and dignity had skipped off to? She allowed that man to treat her like a dog, and she kenw exactly why. It's the same thing over and over in her life. Obedience and orders. If it was not her father, it was someone else. In this case, that someone else was Xanxus and the Vongola IX. Between keeping Xanxus on his leash and fulfilling all his orders, she really did nothing for herself these days.

But, there was one thing on her mind. Commands. IX had told her to keep Xanxus out of trouble and to be a member of the Varia. However, that itself was a contradiction. As a member of the Varia, that made Xanxus her new boss, which meant she had to do whatever he told her to. An obedient loyal dog to the end. So, when the time came, would she have th power to obey the IX, who would surely not be present, or would she simply follow Xanxus? The idea was mind-boggling.

However, Xander had no idea that she would have to make that decision so soon. Just outside, the Varia were beginning to plan their next collision, and the emminent death of Tsuna Sawada and his six guardians.

And ta~da!

Hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Tell me what you think and let me know what you're most wanting to see in future chapters!