Fury exploded from every single pore his body possessed. People scurried out of his way, tripping over themselves and each other in an effort to escape his anger. The wall supporting the door shook violently as he slammed the door shut, his hands raking furiously through his hair as he tried to reign in his temper. How dare he…… how dare he keep such vital information from him…… Darien's fists clenched as he remembered the words of his mentor, "I kept it from you for your own protection." Protection his ass, more because he didn't trust him, centuries of service and he still wasn't able to trust him with something as important as this. Something he needed to know. Knowing that Night wing was female, something that had rocked him to the core was yesterday's news to God. Knowing that the atrocious crimes committed were that of a female made them all the more…tainted.

Shaking his head, he teleported himself into the world between heaven and hell, the world where neither the living or the dead could reign supreme, a neutral world were beings of his calibre could go to escape for a time without being found. He rushed past the barren landscape, his body on autopilot as he navigated his way to the darkest region of this bleak world. Shivering as the temperature dropped drastically, Darien sat on the edge of the once spectacular fountain. His eyes glazed over, unseeing the world around him, instead seeing the world in his head as he tried to ignore the betrayal he felt he'd suffered. Slamming his fist into the dead trunk of a nearby tree, Darien froze as voices drifted over to him. He contemplated leaving, but his curiosity overrode his common sense, his courtesy and he found himself edging closer to where the voices were coming from. Glancing through the brittle branches obstructing his view, Darien was stunned by what his curiosity revealed.

There in front of him, was his best friend Andrew… embracing Night wing. Unable to comprehend what his eyes were showing him, Darien turned away, only to look back again as they began to speak.

"Why are you here? Not that I'm not happy to see you, but you know you shouldn't be here. It's dangerous."

"I felt you… you were in so much pain, there was no way I was gonna sit back and not try to find you."

Confused as to what was happening, Darien crept closer to the couple before him.

"Look, I really appreciate the fact that you care, but I just wanna be left alone for now. How about I talk to you later?" Serena turned to walk away, no longer happy at his being there, he shouldn't have been able to sense her, even if they did have a connection between them.

"I know you fought him… what I don't know is why both of you survived."

Darien watched as she froze at his words, her back stiffening as she turned her head to the side, her long hair streaming behind her in the wind as she listened to what Andrew was saying.

"You promised me Sere… you promised me."

"I know." "NO! You don't fucking know. You have absolutely no idea what it's like to be sitting peacefully minding your own business only to hear about the fight between Darien and the infamous Night wing…… between my best friend and my fucking baby sister!"

Darien started, his eyes widening, mouth dropping open, at Andrew's words.

"I didn't have a choice, you know how it goes. Do you actually think I'd break a promise to you for no reason?"

Running a hand over his face Andrew sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat at her words. "No… I guess you didn't have a choice. I'm sorry, but you have to see things from my perspective."

"I do and I understand Drew, but you have to understand that I have a job to do, and there are… consequences if I fail to do that job."

"Consequences? What consequences? Wait… did you not killing Darien come under the heading of consequences."

She didn't say anything, but the tightening of her hands into fists and the silence that followed his questions was all the answer he needed.

"What did he do to you?" The angry growl in Andrew's voice shocked Darien who had never seen his friend show any other emotions apart from the unnatural calmness and patients he seemed to possess.

"Nothing that I haven't suffered through before…… You need to leave… now."

Turning her head back round to the front, Night Wing once again tried to leave, only to whirl as the air at her back rippled with movement. Rising her hands to defend herself she cried out as the muscles at her back screamed out in agony, protesting at her actions. Biting her lips to hold in the whimpers, Serena found herself helpless to resist as Andrew gently spun her round and lifted the back of her shirt, his sharp inhale filling her with deep shame that she'd allowed someone to violate her body… no matter if she'd had no choice but to allow it. Darien watched keenly as Night Wing cried out, the pain laced within her voice tugging at something within him. He found himself actually taking a step forward to… what? Comfort her? This was his enemy for God's sake, he should be rejoicing at her inability to fight… but wasn't.

The sharp intake of breath from Andrew at whatever he saw on Night wing's back had Darien shifting position to see what had his friend so horrified… and he almost wished he hadn't as he caught sight of the raw gashes criss-crossing across the plane of her back. They were deep, so deep that in some of them he was sure that the flashes of blood stained white were her bones. His fists clenched in anger at her obvious abuse, wondering how she was able to stand, let alone allow no indication of her pain to cross her face… at least, not until she'd made the sudden movements to face Andrew.

Suddenly, Night wing lifted her head and became still. There was an alertness to her stillness that indicated she was listening for something, searching for something. Darien's heart rate accelerated at her actions, sweat beginning to form on his forehead, his muscles tensing in preparation to 'fight' or 'flight'. Night wing mumbled something to Andrew and he watched as Andrew himself became still, before calling out.

"We know your there, so you might as well come out."

Debating on whether to ignore this advice and transport himself back to Heaven, Darien vetoed the action, if there was one thing he wasn't, it was being a coward, he didn't run and hide, unless there were no more options available. Stepping out from behind the branches, he made his way to a shocked Andrew and an impassive Night Wing...