A/N: I'm majorly depressed and don't really feel like doing any at all, which includes writing. I figured I oughtta update before I sink even deeper into the gloom and forget about updating at all. Everyone had been questioning why Syaoran didn't just crush the woman's heart last chapter the answer to that is in this chapter where Syaoran's POV is finally showed. Keep in mind that this is the part where the bunnies ran away with the storyline so this chapter wasn't a part of the initial plan. But I've learnt to go with whatever they want. Saves me from facing writer's blocks later on.

Enjoy the update.

Sakura looked around the city with wide eyes. If she did not know the type of people that lived there, she would have loved to stay there for a while. The sky was beautiful cerulean blue with threads of white wispy clouds. She pushed her hair out of her face as she looked up at the tall building with intricately carved marble columns and huge glass windows. A shimmering silver shield domed over the entire structure. Knowing better than to cross the barrier, she turned down the road and headed towards the park, the sun was sinking low across the horizon. The autumn air nipped at the exposed skin of her arms, causing her to shudder slightly. Pulling the cloak she wore over her clothes closer to herself, she ducked her head as she passed by a pair of armed men. The sun had set only a short while ago and she had to hurry to the little park near the entrance to Metropolis if she were to meet up with Kurogane on time.

She had been scouting the city with the older man the whole day, gathering what little information they could about the hunter's base, mainly by observing the various entrances that they had for the complex. The only time their guard relaxed was around dawn, they had been informed by Nixon so that was when they had decided that they'd be storming the base. This knowledge was something the Oracle had gained from his previous break-in to the complex years ago when he had rescued Masooma. Of course he had been unable to tell them that before thanks to his Guardian Pact but now free of that bond, he had vowed to help them as much as he could. Unfortunately, his face was known to the guards around the city so he was unable to accompany them since the Oracle roaming about their city would definitely cause alarm for the hunters.

"Hey! You're not supposed to be out at this time!" one of the guards yelled out after her, stopping her in her tracks.

Hoping that her panic did not show on her face, she turned around to give them a sheepish grin, scratching the back of her head in a confused manner.

"Oh, umm… I new here…" she said slowly, "Master say, meet park."

"Wait, what?"

"I new." She repeated, silently thanking Nixon for his advice of pretending to be a confused, foreigner if anyone stopped her. "Master come at park."

"Oi! What are you two badgering my apprentice for?" she inwardly sighed in relief as Kurogane turned around the corner and approached the group. He was dressed in standard hunter garb with a couple of personal effects thrown in. The men that had stopped her were lowly grunts but fortunately these footmen had the sort of information they had been looking for. Now all they had to do was put on a convincing enough act for the men to give them that information.

The men took note of his appearance, eyeing him suspiciously for a while before their gaze settled on his eyes. The crimson color was something only high-ranking officials acquired. The level below them had onyx as the color of their eyes to show their rank. The grunts immediately tensed, standing at attention as the ninja walked over with an angry scowl fixed on his face. "Well?" he barked, causing the guards to jump slightly.

"We did not know she was your apprentice, sir." One of the men offered, "With the curfew in-effect at sunset, we thought she might have been a Mage."

Kurogane's glare hardened, "Does she look like a mage to you?" their immediately stole a look in her direction. Dressed in a pair of denim shorts and a light brown t-shirt, under a dark cloak, she did look a little suspicious but the look went perfectly well for her cover. After all, apprentices to the high-ranking hunters were known to dress as they pleased. She narrowed her eyes in defiance, moving her hand so that they caught a flash of the short swords she had strapped to her waist. The mages of this world preferred staffs, not swords.

"Terribly sorry sir." The man that had spoken before apologized.

"You got a problem, grunt?" he scowled at the second soldier who wore a rather skeptic look on his face.

"Which department do you work for, sir?"

Kurogane growled low in her throat, emitting such a threatening aura it made the men take a couple of steps back in alarm.

"What exactly are you trying to insinuate?" he hissed softly, taking a step towards the man as he reached for his sword. Sakura almost felt bad for the poor man, "are you so blind after the sunset that you cannot even see the rank of your superior officer? You very well know what department I work for." He spat, "What's your name?"

"S-Sir?" the man stuttered as he nervously licked his dry lips. In the light being cast by the lamps overhead, she could see the sweat that dotted the grunt's brow.

"What's your name?" Kurogane repeated in an irritated manner, "You come under Bauld, I presume. I need to have a word with him about the type of fools he's trusting to guard Metropolis."

"H-Hiro Weston." The man stuttered, growing pale under Kurogane's heated glare. "I apologize for my actions sir."

"You!" he barked at the other grunt who immediately blanched at the ninja's attention. "What's your name?"

"C-Captain Weaselby Krover, sir!"

"Very well captain, what is the status of the other guards?" he questioned sharply, oozing irritation and annoyance from every pore of his being.

"Sir?"

"Is that all you two shitheads can say?" he growled. "I asked you a question. I'm heading out for the forest with my apprentice shortly and I need to know whether the complex is protected well enough for me to leave or not. I don't have to check each and every post for myself, do I? How many guard have you stationed at every post? And what time do they change shifts?"

Sakura was inwardly glad that this captain was such a cowardly and rather slightly foolish man. The other grunt, although lower in rank had been smart enough to not believe what he saw at face value. Of course, Kurogane's irritated glower was more than enough to quell that man's doubts. She had no idea the red-eyed man could actually put on such a convincing act since acting had always been Fai's thing. But Kurogane could do just as wonderfully. Or maybe it was just that he could act the part of an irritated superior so well because he himself had served as Tomoyo-hime's royal guard. He had to have been in-charge of other guards and what he was doing right now was no different than what he used to do back when he was still serving the Miko princess.

"Four guards are currently stationed at the northern and western posts," the captain recited quickly, "five for the southern and three at the eastern post. Their shifts have only just started an hour before sunset."

"And what time do they change captain?"

"Dawn, sir!"

"I will overlook your behavior this time, Weston," he turned to the other soldier, "but make sure it doesn't happen again or you might find yourself out of a job, understand?"

"Sir!"

"Carry on." He waved at them dismissively, motioning for Sakura to follow him as he walked away. Casting one last glance in the direction of the suddenly relieved footmen, Sakura turned around and followed after the ninja in disguise.

-0-

Syaoran stood off to the side, watching as the silver-haired woman hit Fai before forcibly kissing him as she murmured questions to him. He really wished Fai had chosen to keep up with the façade of still being under the influence of the drug. Because at least, like that, that vile woman would never have been tempted to do to him what happened next.

As she inquired Fai about the source of his magic, a feeling of dread overcame Syaoran. It was bad. It was really, really bad. If she was interested in his magic, there was no doubt that… she had decided he was of no more use to her. Fai had managed to convince her that he won't be giving away the location of the essence but… it was at the cost of his own value to the hunters. They did not need him anymore. And Syaoran knew what that meant. They were going to kill Fai, very, very soon.

He couldn't wait around for the others to come rescue Fai. He had no idea when they would get there. For all he knew, it could still be a few weeks before they even arrived in this world. Time flowed differently between dimensions. Fai didn't have the luxury of time on his side anymore. He had to get the blond out and he had to get him out right then. Of course, he had not tried this before now for the sole reason that the hunters might blame the heart attacks on Fai's magic and that would draw attention to how dangerous he was despite all their attempts to restrain him. They might just decide to kill him to avoid the trouble. But now that they had decided to kill him anyways, Syaoran had no qualms with attacking the hunters to help the older man.

Just as her hand shot out to slap him, Syaoran plunged his hand into her chest, knowing from his experience with Fai that crushing her heart might give the blond enough time to actually do something about his situation. No one ever came in to check on them when the woman was here with him. So he'd have a few hours to figure a way to get him out.

"The blade that's pushed into your shoulder is made out Cerelium, Fai," the woman spoke as she twisted the metal blade in his shoulder with a sharp grin. Shocked that he had been unable to affect her at all, he tried again only to get the same results. "The drug that we pumped into your blood to restrict you from using your magic is a compound of this wonderful metal. Did you know that if a magical being is exposed to this metal in its purest form, there are some interesting reactions that occur?"

Why was it having no effect on that woman? His arm was buried halfway inside her ribcage yet she did not even so much as flinch, her grin only widening as she continued with her tirade. "It is said to cause the loss of all motor functions if a mage is kept in prolonged direct contact with it."

Get away from him. He hissed as the woman leered at Fai and licked away the blood that had blossomed across the cuts in his cheek, "Of course, their senses work just fine, it's just that their muscles end up getting locked in place. It's kind of funny you know," she told him in a soft murmur as her hands began to roam, "there's something about you that sets you apart from all those other things that have ended up here."

I said get away from him! Syaoran yelled, feeling panic bubble in his heart as he realized that he was truly powerless to prevent anything that might happen to Fai. "I can see now what Bauld meant about that wretched bitch. She fought back. I'd even say she fought almost as hard as you…" she paused, as though waiting for Fai to respond. Syaoran wished for nothing more than being solid enough to punch her in the face as the woman laughed at the muffled noises of protest that formed in Fai's mouth. "Of course, Bauld has a way of breaking his playthings after a while."

"This defiance of yours…" she kissed him again, her next words freezing Syaoran as the world seemed to turn to ice around him. "It's almost refreshing. I'm going to miss it." he had been right! They were going to kill Fai. They were going to kill him. He… he had to do something. He couldn't just stand by and watch as they killed a friend. Despite knowing it to be useless, he spun around, his right leg flying through the air in a roundhouse kick, which had it not uselessly sailed right through her body, would have sent her crashing into the wall. Fai whimpered as she tore open the blisters on his back, "Let's make the most of what little time you've got left, shall we?"

Syaoran froze in his place, his eyes going wide as the reality of just what it was that the woman was about to do settled in his mind. She was… No! Not to Fai… He couldn't let it happen to the man that had been something of an older brother to both him and Sakura during their journey. He had to do something. Anything. But even as these thoughts rushed through his head, he could only watch as she pulled out another dagger and used it to carve another line of blood, this time across Fai's collarbone. She followed the bleeding cut with her finger before bringing it to her lips. "I'm starting to realize that I also have a habit of breaking my playthings. It's a pity..." she pouted in fake annoyance, "you were such a delight till now."

With those words, her hands traced lower down Fai's chest, the blade making shallow cuts every so often.

Fai-san? He spoke, trying to get his friend's attention as her hand went lower still. He couldn't physically help him, but if Fai were to regain the use of his limbs, surely he could do something. Fai-san, he called again. Why wasn't the blond fighting off the effects of that blade? Drugs had not been involved to paralyze him this time so it was all in his head anyways. It had to be. The mage should be able to free himself through his willpower. If only the blond would… do something. Anything! Fai-san, snap out of it!

Her hand moved past his navel and Syaoran could only yell at the blond to get his attention, helplessly watching with increasing horror as the woman grinned and forced the blond into another kiss.

-0-

Fai-san. He could hear Syaoran call his name, from somewhere to his right but he didn't respond. The knife that had kept him paralyzed had been removed some time ago but his hands were still bound behind his back, the metal cuffs digging into his skin. He could hear the slow occasional drip, drip, drip of his blood as it fell to the floor. The blindfold had been removed from his eyes and he could see the small, dimly lit cell he was in. But it all seemed like it was in a whole other world. He was inside a tiny space, a tiny, tiny room. Watching the world outside through a little glass window.

"This is the room where Bauld broke your little virgin."

"Why won't you say anything, Fai? Don't you like this?"

"What's this? Not even a word? Your bitch at least screamed at Bauld the first time."

"My my… I guess I might have broken you after all. Such a shame. I rather enjoyed your company when you fought back."

He couldn't completely escape though. Her words kept on replaying over and over again inside his head, stuck in an endless loop that taunted him. Mocked him. Proved to him that despite all his power and magic, he was in the end, only human.

Fai-san, please… that was Syaoran speaking to him, right?

No… he wasn't in here with him. Syaoran was in that other world.

"This is the room where Bauld broke your little virgin." Her whispered words echoed in his ear. Why was she in here? No one… no one should have been able to get inside. "Why won't you say anything, Fai? Don't you like this?"

Fai-san, can you hear me? He could. But he couldn't dredge up the energy needed to respond. He'd have to break through the glass window and go to that other world. He… he didn't want that.

"Not even a word?" that silky voice brushed his insides, mocking and full of scorn. He was supposed to be alone here! "Your bitch at least screamed at Bauld the first time."

His mind had still not managed to catch up with all that had happened to him, so he had retreated here. To this tiny room in another world where there was supposed to be no one else. But then, why did she keep on repeating those cruel words over and over again. He blinked once, the thick haze that settled all around him vanishing for a brief moment before reasserting its hold on him and his surroundings.

Say something, please. Say something? Like what? What was there to say?

Crack.

A tiny break appeared in the glass window.

"My my…" her breath ghosted over his skin, "I guess I might have broken you after all."

Crraack… the break snaked across its fragile surface.

"Such a shame." No! The glass wasn't supposed to crack. It was supposed to stay solid. Frozen over like a sheet of ice. It was supposed to be the barrier between his world and the outside. "I rather enjoyed your company when you fought back."

Something cold and frozen touched his shoulder and his breath caught up in his throat.

"…Bauld... your little virgin… Even… bitch… screamed… the first time." Her whispers grew louder, faster. The sentences jumbling over each until it was all just a garbled mess, "won't you… Fai... like this…"

Crack.

Fai-san, you're shaking.

No. He wasn't shaking. He was breathing.

Craack.

"Enjoyed… fought back… won't you…"

… you answer me?

He… he couldn't… why was it so suffocating?

"…might… broken… after all… Fai…"

Crrack.

He needed air… he couldn't… the touch on his shoulder…

"Such a shame… screamed… first time…"

CRACK!

The glass shattered, spraying his face and arms and chest with billions of tiny shards. He could feel blood flowing down his skin, his face, his stomach, his legs. It was pooling about his feet. With a jolt he was thrown back in that other world. He could hear Syaoran speaking right next to him. He was no longer in that tiny space, his tiny, tiny room. The glass window separating him from everything else was gone. He could feel the tremors shaking his entire body, he could feel the cold biting at his exposed flesh, he could feel it all. Her voice had followed him back to this world. It was loud. But now he could feel her touch. Her breath. Her hands. Her lips. Everywhere.

"Tell me… Fai…"

All around him.

"Enjoy this…"

Drowning him.

"Say something, Fai."

Suffocating him.

"What's wrong, Fai?"

Taunting him.

"S-sh…"

"Why won't you say something?"

Haunting him.

"…p"

What did you say, Fai-san?

"Don't you like it?"

Mocking him.

"Sh-ut… up…" he rasped.

"Your virgin was such a screamer, Fai." Her voice was still there.

What? Syaoran's startled eyes appeared in his line of vision but he couldn't care.

"Won't you scream too?" She was still there. Why… why was she still there?

"Get out… of my head…"

"Oh Fai, you know you want this."

"Get out…"

"You like it."

"Shut up…"

"Say it, Fai."

"Leave me alone…" he squeezed his eyes, shaking his head as though the physical motion itself would dislodge that voice from his mind, "Go away… get out of my head… shut up… shut up… shut up… Get out of my head. Just shut up! Getoutgetoutgetout!"

F-Fai-san…

"Go away…" he whimpered, trying to cover his ears by hunkering his shoulders. The bonds restraining his hands prevented him doing that. "Leave me alone!" he growled, tugging at his arms in an attempt to free them, "get out! Leave… go away!"

Fai-san! Stop it! You're hurting yourself.

"You're not so strong now, are you Fai?"

"Get out of my head!"

"You're weak."

"No!" He pulled harder, not caring as his wrists started bleeding anew.

Fai-san, stop it!

"Powerless."

"No!"

"Pathetic."

You're bleeding! Stop pulling like that!

"All the magic in the world can't help you now."

"Shut up! Shut up!"

"Nothing can help you now."

"Leave me alone!" he snarled, his body arching in an awkward manner as he attempted to stand. "Get lost! Shut-" he froze, staring wide-eyed at the familiar amber-eyes that were narrowed in a determined frown. Cold, ghostly fingers brushed his face before moving on to his shoulders, somewhat attempting to push him back. As though a switch had been flipped, the voices went away, leaving him alone with the sound of his own shuddering breath and ragged sobs. When had he started crying?

Fai-san, calm down. There is no one here but you and me.

But… she had been right there. She had been…

You… You need to calm down, Fai-san. Just breathe, okay?

"S-Syaoran…kun…"

Yes, it's me. The brunette's ghostly hands pushed him back and he slumped into the chair, You need to calm down Fai-san. You're only hurting yourself.

"I-I… S-She…"

Just breathe. Don't think about it right now. Don't think about anything. Just… breathe.

"…" like a child being told what to do, Fai followed the apparition's instructions perfectly.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

In.

"It's not going to work, Fai."

His breath hitched. Oh God… he… he could hear her again. She was back…

Fai-san!

No… it was just in his head. Only Syaoran was here with him.

"…breathe…" he murmured, returning his focus on the action.

Out.

In.

Out.

"You really think you'll get over this?"

He flinched, but forced himself not to stop.

That right, Fai-san. Just concentrate on that.

"Face it Fai." Her breath ghosted over his skin, her lips brushing softly against the shell of his ear. "You're broken."

He twitched a little but did not let go of his focus on his breathing.

You just have to hold on a little longer.

"They're coming," he forced himself to meet the brunette's gaze, "aren't they?"

Very soon. Just… The boy nodded, his expression turning a little distraught, letting the blond see his fear and frustration at the situation for the first time. Please, just hold on until then. He was scared. Even in his current state of mind, Fai could tell that the brunette was scared. It was evident in the desperate way he looked at him, his eyes silently pleading him to hold on to the last threads of sanity for a just a little longer.

"Don't worry, Syaoran-kun," he replied softly, averting his gaze as he said so because he could not bear to lie to the scared brunette as he looked him in the eye, "I'll hold on."

"Will you, Fai? Will you really?"

Shut up! He mentally snarled at the voice, clenching his fists in silent rage as he did so.

A/N: So she managed to break him. Sorta. Writing Fai all confused and panicked and incoherent is the most fun part of writing him for some reason. Or well, it was when I wrote this chapter. I don't really write anything explicit of that sort even if I ended up implying what happened to Fai in this chapter in somewhat clear terms I don't have the stomach to actually write thatsort of stuff.

Leave a review and tell me what you think.