A/N: It's New Year. Thought you guys would appreciate an update. Enjoy!

The only other time Syaoran could recall feeling as helpless as he did then was when his precious Sakura had lost her memories and was dying because her body did not have enough energy to sustain her life-force. But at least back then, he had been able to do something to help her, even if that something had involved giving up his cherished friendship with her just so he could use Mokona's services to keep her alive. But now… he could do nothing. Not one fucking thing!

He screamed himself hoarse telling the bitch to leave Fai alone, he exhausted his body trying in vain to kick her, punch her, hit her… do anything at all to get her away from the blond. But his voice remained unheard, his body, formless. Heck he even tried entering Fai's mind to try and convince the magician to fight back but without Nixon there to help him form the initial connection, Syaoran was truly, utterly useless. He wasn't sure how long it was but the woman finally left Fai alone, untying the blindfold from his eyes and pulling out the dagger from his shoulder as she kissed him one last time, crooning in his ear with a satisfied smirk before leaving him there, tied to the chair with his arms bound behind his back.

Hesitantly, feeling guilt wrench at his gut, he had approached the magician, calling out his name to get his attention. It wasn't truly surprising when Fai did not respond. Still, without giving up hope, he had called out his name again, walking up to the man until he stood before him. The blond was trapped in a trance-like state, his blue eyes glazed over but open wide as he stared at nothing. Syaoran tried in vain to gain his attention, growing worried when even after several hours, the mage did not move, did not blink, did not do anything except stare straight on ahead with that dead, not-quite-there expression on his face. Fear began to replace the guilt as Syaoran tried again and again, calling out the older man's name to no avail. That was until he touched him. something seemed to shift behind those blank blue eyes as the blond finally did something other than mimic a lifeless marionette. He murmured something. The words were so soft however that Syaoran barely caught them. Leaning a little closer, he asked the blond to repeat the words, only to grow even more confused when what he said made no sense at all. before he could ask the magician to elaborate, the blond started trembling, his eyes darting all around him, a jumbled incoherent mess of words tumbling out of his lips.

Before Syaoran could do anything, he started yelling, tugging wildly at his bonds as his back arched away from the chair, feet scrabbling against the filthy, wet floor as they struggled to find enough purchase. His screams grew louder, more desperate as he fought violently, blood flowing freely from his injured wrists as the cuffs restraining them cut deep into his flesh. Fearing for the man, Syaoran did the only thing he could think of, holding his breath in anticipation as Fai froze mid-yell when the spirit's hands partially held on to the magician's shoulders. Swallowing back the fear that now threatened to overwhelm him, for he wasn't sure how much longer Fai would be able to hold on given his current state, he tried to calm the blond. He tried to put up a strong front, telling him to keep it all together for just a little while longer. The others couldn't be that far along now. Nixon had promised him they'd be coming soon enough. But he wasn't sure how much more of it all could he take. Even if nothing was happening to him, watching Fai go through it all was nothing less than torture in itself. Especially since he was unable to do anything to help him at all.

Fai had promised him he'd hold on until the others got there but the slightly crazed look in his eyes as he made that promise only served to scare Syaoran even more. Silently he had prayed for the others to hurry up, watching the magician closely for any signs of a relapse of his earlier episode. But hours went by and thankfully, the blond stayed true to his word. Even as the hunters' cronies came by and slipped a needle under Fai's skin to pump his bloodstream with some sort of drug, the older man kept it together.

Syaoran followed after Fai as the blond was dragged out of the cell and towards the lower levels soon after that. He felt the familiar tingle of the Oracle's magic as the blind man tried to contact him.

"Syaoran, are you there?" He froze in his footsteps as he heard the guardian's voice inside his head. Nixon-san? Latching on to the connection, he replied.

"Yeah, it's me." he heard the Oracle's confirmation.

Nixon-san," all the panic that he had been pushing down for the past several hours bubbled to te surface, tumbling out of him in the form of words. Fai-san can't hold on for much longer. That woman, she… No matter what, he could not bring himself to say it out loud so he questioned him instead Is Kurogane-san here yet?

"Yeah, the princess is with him too."

Sakura-chan came along as well? He was a little surprised he knew it wasn't the time to question her reason for coming, Nevermind… when are you coming? Fai-san, he… he trailed off, casting a distracted glance in the direction were the hunters had taken Fai, the door at the end of the hallway was closed, when are you coming?"

"At dawn." Nixon replied as Syaoran resumed walking towards the door.

Good. I don't know how much longer Fai-san will be able to hold it together. And… he stopped walking for a bit, pausing to draw in a breath to steel himself. He knew he had to tell Nixon about it, I think the hunters have realized he won't tell them what they want to know.

"Where is Fai now?" Syaoran could sense the alarm in the Oracle's voice.

They took him out of his cell. He answered, a little puzzled as he started feeling vibes of worry that were not his own.

"Where are you now?"

I was following after him as they brought him down to lower level.

"They're bringing him to the lower levels?" sensing something wrong, Syaoran started hurrying towards the door.

I think this is the lowest level.

"Shit!" the violent way in which the Oracle swore startled the brunette.

Nixon-san? He called out, frowning a little as his hand collided with the door instead of phasing through it like he had expected. Dread began to settle in the pit of his stomach as he tried again, only to get the same results.

"Syaoran, we're coming." Nixon promised urgently, "Just stay with him till we get there. No matter what happens, stay with Fai." No sooner had those words reached Syaoran, the oracle cut off their connection, leaving the spirit alone inside his mind as his thoughts grew panicked. Something was wrong. This door felt just like the one in the healing chamber. The metal one that seemed to rob him of whatever energy he had when he drew too close. What was worse?

He couldn't get through!

-0-

The drug circulated through his bloodstream, slowing down the world for him. The edges of his vision grew blurry as everything merged into everything else, the bright light distant and oh so white… and fuzzy… His thoughts grew confused, incoherent as the sense of urgency left him completely. He lay there unmoving, just breathing.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

In.

A tiny voice at the back of his mind tried to tell him that there was something he needed to do. Something urgent.

Call on your magic, it seemed to say. Use it. Call it out.

In a dream-like haze, he reached inside him, searching for the icy-blue aura that was the source of all his power. He searched and searched, the haze slowly lifting from his mind as he found nothing but inky blackness.

Where… where was it?

It was supposed to be right there

Inside him.

Why couldn't he find it?

Thought along those lines crawled through his brain as he felt his eyes droop. He looked deeper inside, finding an almost fading flicker. He reached for it, sensing it slip through his fingers like smoky wisps of fog. He tried to reach for it again but his resolve crumbled, the tiny voice having been silenced long ago. Sighing, he let go. Why was he even trying to find it? Whatever it was that he was looking for…

Blearily, he opened his eyes, looking at the dancing lights and the dark silhouette moving above him. Who… Who was that? He tried to move his head to the side, finding it impossible to do so. He let his eyes dart in one direction, only to find a sea of darkness there. Slowly, he looked the other way, finding nothing but the same darkness.

Something cold and burning pressed against his stomach, slowly dragging upwards towards his chest. Suddenly pain exploded everywhere! His eyes snapped open as he gave a shuddering gasp before squeezing shut again. Despite the paralysis, his body jerked and twitched against the bonds that held him as the burning, white-hot pain tore through his flesh. He opened his mouth for a scream but no sound came out. Jagged slices of razor-sharp agony ripped through his insides, making it impossible for him to breath, locking his whole body in place. The burning sensation dug deeper and he found it impossible to move. To scream. To do anything. A scalding hot liquid flowed down his sides, collecting on the cold metal beneath him, it's tangy scent assaulting his senses.

Blood. That was his blood. He was bleeding. Another cry died inside his throat as he felt something tug at the flesh of his stomach, the pain of something tearing and being pulled apart consuming him almost completely. The tug pulled at the flesh of his chest, the same tearing pain following in its wake. This was followed by a series of sickening snaps before the burning agony grew too much for him. Oh God! He wanted to scream so badly…

But there was no air inside his lungs. There was… there was nothing. He couldn't move. Couldn't breathe… couldn't do… anything…

Something sharp poked something inside him and the burning sensation was replaced by a freezing cold, turning the blood inside his veins to ice. But the pain remained. It ripped and clawed and ate away everything that made him up. It was endless, unbearable, absolutely excruciating torture! His nails dugs into the flesh of his palms as he threw his head back, a choked sob escaping his lips.

He was going to die.

He was going to die.

-0-

The last of Nixon's transportation spell faded away as they emerged in a dark alleyway.

"We only have about four minutes before the hunters pinpoint the location of this spell." Nixon told them in a hurried whisper, "We'll have to take out the guards stationed at the post and get inside. Keep in mind that we can't afford to fight for too long so take them out swiftly and silently if you can. And leave the killing to me and Kurogane, okay Sakura?"

Her throat felt too dry and her tongue to rubber-like for her to form any words, so she merely nodded at the blind man.

"I'll grab the kid and the idiot once we're there." Kurogane told her, "You'll cover for the Oracle while he casts his spell to get us out."

"Speaking of magic, you won't be able to use it inside the Complex." Nixon informed them both, "You will have to rely solely on your physical prowess. And no matter what you do, don't let them hit you with their darts or bullets."

Sakura nodded once more, her grip tightening on the hilts of her twin short swords as she tried not to bite her lip. This was the first time she would be fighting for real. Sure, she had snuck out of the castle to participate in some matches recently after Touya had declared her 'a monster that could kick some serious butt', but matches could go only so far. This… this was going to be real. There would be no rules, no referee, no anything…

"Let's go."

The guards stationed at the post didn't even know what hit them before they were on the ground as lifeless dolls, eyes staring vacantly ahead as the ground was slowly painted a deep crimson. Forcing herself not to look at the fallen men, she turned her gaze to Kurogane, noticing the grim look of determination on his face as he relaxed his stance a little. She could hear Nixon fumble around with the corpses on the ground, looking for some sort of 'passkey'. The device was what would allow them access to the lower levels of the Complex, which was where the hunters had taken Fai.

"Found it, this one was a captain." She heard the Oracle announce softly. "We only need to get past the first two levels. The bastards are too confident about their security in those two levels to bother with anything except simple passkeys for the lower levels."

And they were off again, taking out as many of the guards as they could along the way, moving swiftly through the brightly lit corridors like silent death. It wasn't until they reached the second level that trouble truly found them in the form of a bald, red-eyed man with a single gold earring in one ear.

"Bauld." Nixon spat venomously while the other man stared back at him coolly.

"Come to save another pathetic cockroach, Oracle?"

Beside Sakura, Kurogane growled dangerously while she felt her own eyes narrow in extreme dislike.

"I must say, my apprentice has grown rather fond of this one. Quite enjoyable she says." He said, his cold expression turning a little sadistic as he leered at the blind man. For a short while his eyes shifted towards Sakura and the jade-eyed girl felt a chill race down her spine at the look that crossed his face then. Faster than she could follow, Nixon was upon the man, daggers drawn and his handsome face twisted in an enraged expression. Only a second later, she was being pushed out of the way by Kurogane as something embedded in the ground with a metallic clink where she had been only seconds before.

"Pay attention, Princess," the ninja scolded her as he swung his sword through the air, deflecting several more bullets as the guards that had snuck up the corridor behind them opened fire.

"S-Sorry." She stuttered as adrenaline rushed through her veins, heightening her senses enough to let her see even the tiniest twitch of muscles in their opponents faces as they took aim at her and opened fire.

-0-

The world… and time, everything was frozen in place for him as nothing but absolute agony consumed his entire being. It was too much. Too much… Things began to grow hazy as he heard a soft voice murmur and croon somewhere far away, taking on a sharp edge near the end as something twisted and dug deeper inside his flesh. An agonized cry tore through his throat as everything slammed back into focus. He couldn't do it anymore. He… he couldn't hold on. He just wanted it all to end.

Stop. Please. Just stop.

He wanted to cry and beg for it all to end but the words died on his lips before they could even form.

You won't give her the satisfaction of making you beg. Something inside him, a whispered promise to himself made when he had first regained awareness of what was happening to him stopped him. Not after what they did to the ones you love.

No matter how much he wanted to scream, no sounds emerged from him except for the strangled sobs. He grit his teeth, clenching his eyes shut as he felt her fingers brush his cheek. He would have snapped again, had he had enough energy for the act but as it was, all he could do was moan weakly as energy slowly flowed out of his body.

Don't let her see you break. That one whispered promise was the only reason why, when he wanted to so badly, he did not beg, holding on to the last shreds of his sanity and awareness. Drawing every breath was painful, the sharp sting of her nails as she poked and prodded him, searching for something that wasn't there, making him want to scream and cry for relief. If only for a short moment… but he never said a word. Hoping, praying that the ones he was waiting for would come soon enough to spare him. Syaoran had promised they would come. Black crawled through the edges of his vision, the face of the woman looming over him, blurring out completely as lead pulled his lids together.

He struggled to keep his eyes open, forcing his mind to focus on anything but the jagged, white-hot edges of serrated pain that was situated inside his chest. He had promised to wait. Even if the others had gone back on their word. Even if they had decided he was not worth their effort, he would wait.

He'd hold on… for as long as he could…

He felt a jab at something inside his torn chest, followed by a distant pop as a tangy liquid began to fill his mouth. . A strangled hybrid of a laugh and a cry gurgled through his lips. He was drowning in his own blood, his punctured lung filling up with his own life source but even as his world was consumed by darkness he did not beg.

He had promised to wait for them… but maybe they had decided he wasn't worth the effort after all. He had promised to wait, but maybe no one was coming for him. He laughed again, choking on his blood as he failed to draw in enough air. He was going to die alone, tied to a metal table with his chest torn open and his lung punctured. The laugh turned to a broken sob as he let the pain carry him away from awareness completely.

No one is coming…

A/N: Fai has given up. The others are almost there but will they be in time to save him? especially considering his lung just got punctured? It's all coming to an end now. Fai's torture I mean. The story still has a few more chapters to go. Tell me what you think of it all so far.

Oh and once again

Happy New Year! ^_^