A/N: Thank you so much for the lovely reviews and love! I'm so happy to read them! I hope my story continues to please you!

I welcome all and every reader! New and Old!

Please enjoy!

(Miles)

Once we were back out in the hallway, I glanced over at Young-ja.

She had a death grip on my hand, like she was afraid I would vanish if she didn't hold on tight.

As if that would happen.

She walked with a limp and was so horribly beaten that I wondered how she was still moving at all.

I peered down at her feet and noticed that her shoes were missing and her feet were covered in lacerations.

Without saying a word, I scooped her up in my arms and grimaced at how light she was.

'Even a tiny breeze would blow her away…'

"I can walk, Mi-Ah!" She winched, hand going to her ripped up throat.

"Shut up, Short Stack." The taste of her old nickname was Heaven to my tongue. "I told you I would protect you now, so let me." I sighed before giving her a quick peck on the lips. "Besides, I want to hold you for a bit."

She smiled up at me and nodded, a faint red glow on her cheeks.

The sight of her blushing after so long made my chest constrict and I had to avert my eyes.

"…Besides," I mumbled, trekking down the empty hallway "you look like shit."

Young-ja scowled at me for a moment before closing her eyes and resting her head against my shoulder.

I stared down at her, noting how paper thin her skin seemed in the dim florescent lights. And how tiny and worn out she looked due to all the blood loss.

'How could such a small person lose so much blood?'

But, I didn't dwell on that for long.

Not when something else caught my attention.

Now that she was in my arms, her 'dress' had shifted up and I could clearly make out, underneath the thick layer of lacerations and bruises, faint bite marks on her thighs.

That burning sensation bubbled up once again, and the urge to tear the fucker to shreds increased tenfold. It continued to grow when I noticed, like her neck, her wrist had rope indentations, and all I could see was Young-ja tied up somewhere, screaming and crying while someone did this to her.

As I continued to inspect her body, I noticed something that made my heart freeze. Her neck, wrists, cuts, and bruises were in various stages of healing.

She…had been attacked more than once.

As the thought registered in my head, my blood turned cold and I felt like going on a killing spree.

"….Are the bastards who did this to you still breathing?" The words suddenly coming out of my mouth.

Young-ja stiffened in my arms and her skin became stark white.

"Youn-."

"No," She spat out, turning away from me. "No… no more talking, Miles. Please."

"Bu-."

"NO!"A raspy scream echoed down the hallway, causing me to jump up in fright. Following the outburst, Young-ja covered her throat as tears and shivers racked her body. "Please…don't…make me….remember…Please…"

I immediately fell to my knees and cradled her in my arms, my heart shattering with every sob she let out.

"Shhh…I'm here, Young-ja." I ran my fingers through her hair, trying to soothe her as she did for me. "You're safe now, love. No one will hurt you anymore." As I drew some hair away from her face, I finally got a good look at her missing arm.

And I noticed there were tubes and some type of patient drip jutting from her stump.

The sight of the contraption reminded me of a certain doctor, and I felt my stomach flip.

"Young-ja," I reached out to cup her cheek, my hands shaking. "Is tha-?"

"Buddy!" A shout boomed off the walls, and I whirled around to find Trager standing at the end of the hallway. "I thought I heard you screaming, and here you are! I've been looking all over for you! You're a slippery little fucker for giving me the slip so easily." He laughed and trudged towards us, tapping his big ass bone shears against the wall with every step. "Oh! And what's this?" Trager tilted his head and leered at Young-ja, who had a death grip on my jacket. "Stumpy! Didn't I tell you to stay put? Yesh, woman really are terrible listeners.."

"….Stumpy?" I repeated, eyes locked onto the contraption on Trager's arm and his words from before zapped through my mind.

"You a married man, Buddy?" His tone was flat, but I felt some ulterior motive underneath it that gave me the chills.

"…..What's it to you?"

"Oh, nothing. Just thought a strapping man such as yourself would have a girl back home. Some cute, little thing with soft skin and big, brown eyes that drive men wild."

My throat dried up and my vision blurred as Young-ja clung to me with all my might, her alarmed gaze solidifying my suspicions. She stared up at me, fear evident in her eyes as she subconsciously touched her neck.

Instantly, I could see her hanging from the ceiling with rope enfolding her neck as Trager beat her into a blood pulp. And she…couldn't….scream…

My vision turned red.

All I could hear was Young-ja crying.

Begging for mercy.

And Trager laughing at her.

And with that, something clicked in my brain.

"Miles?" Young-ja queried, confusion etched across her face as I kissed her forehead and placed her to the side, asking her wait here.

Nearby, there was a small pile of rubble and I reached out towards it, my fingers tingling.

"Say, Trager," I started, standing up with my back to Trager and a charred piece of concrete in my hand. "You mentioned golf scores a while ago. Would you happen to be a golf enthusiast?"

"….Yeah." Trager replied, his tone on guard. "I was the best in the entire Science Division."

"Then try and hit this." I whirled around and jammed the shard into Trager's monocle, sending him to the ground screaming in agony. "Doesn't feel so nice on the other end, huh?!" I climbed on top of the piece of shit and pummeled his gaunt face over and over, finding this morbid pleasure in the pain shooting up my knuckles.

With every strike, I let out all my fury at what he did to his patients, to me, and especially to Young-ja.

Even as his bones crunched under my assault and his blood caked my knuckles, it wasn't enough.

I needed to do more.

It was like my mind had separated from my body, and I could only watch as my body acted on its own.

Trager's face was nothing but a puddle of blood now.

And I couldn't help but laugh at the sight.

"Let me tell you something you should know. There are three important women in my life, Trager." I stood up, shoving my hands into my jean pockets and watched his bare chest weakly rise and fall. "First, my mother." I placed the heel of my boot on his sternum. "Second, my daughter." Followed by the sole. "And third, my wife. I promised myself that if someone ever hurt them, I'd kick the bastard's face in. And, as you can see, you've done quite a number on my wife." I smiled and leaned down, hands still in my pockets. "So you leave me no choice but to break every single fucking bone in your miserable body."

And with that, I placed my entire weight on my foot and dug it into his sternum, the sound of bone cracking music to my ears.

Trager's screams were just the icing on the cake.

"…Y'know, I've dealt with a shit ton of corporate bastards like you, claiming everything you do is for business and that it was nothing personal. You probably go to bed each night in your stately mansion without giving a second thought to the lives you've ruined." I took my other foot and rammed it against his throat. "Go anything to say about that, Mr. Executive?"

Trager gurgled something, causing blood to splatter across my face.

"I'm sorry. Can't hear you very well." I jammed my heel against his throat. "Care to repeat that?"

"I..said.." Trager spat out, that shit eating smirk on his face. "It was a shame you came so soon. Stumpy's uterus would've made a killin-."

I snatched the concrete slab off the floor and smashed it against his face before he could finish.

All was silent after that.

My heart raced in my ears as I panted furiously, leering down at Trager's limp body.

"Go fuck yourself." I mumbled, kicking his head before turning around.

"Miles.." Young-ja called out, unsteadily crawling to her feet and reaching out for me.

I quickly went to her side and steadied her. She gazed up at me with a worried expression, and I could see my blood soaked face reflected in her eyes.

At that moment, I looked and felt no different than the other murderous Variants roaming the asylum.

But…I couldn't find it in me to care.

I was snapped out of my trace when I felt something caress my face. I blinked to see Young-ja wiping the blood off with the edge of her dress, a gentle smile on her face.

"Blood...doesn't…suit you." She whispered, brushing my hair out of my eyes.

"It doesn't suit you either." I replied, leaning into her touch for a moment before leaning down and scooping her up once more. "C'mon, we need to find the exit."

Young-ja gazed back at Trager's body for a moment before nodding, an uneasy gleam in her eyes.

"…Right.."

After trekking through a few more hallways and crawling through an air vent, we finally found the elevator key in the Male Ward office.

"We're almost there, Young-ja." I said, tearing down the hallway at breakneck speed, the key secured in my jacket pocket. "Just a little while longer and we'll be free."

Young-ja nodded with a small smile on her face, her eyes half lidded with exhaustion.

Eventually the damn elevator came into sight, and I let out a sigh of relief. Rushing inside the metal cage, I placed Young-ja against the wall before jamming the key into the hole and turning it. The elevator whirled to life and it slowly descended.

…..I never push a button though.

Without thinking, I pushed Young-ja behind me, just as Trager came into view.

That fucker was still alive!

The blood gushing from his face and the broken monocle only made him ten times as frightening.

"I'm not giving up on you!" He shouted, yanking the metal gate aside and charging forward, shears in hand.

"Fuck!" I grunted, catching his arm and shoved him back with all my might. "Just die already!"

I pushed him out of the elevator, but he kept pushing back, even as the elevator continued descending.

Then, I had an idea.

I grasped his arms and yanked him back inside, trapping his body between the previous floor and elevator head.

Now with only his torso in the elevator, Trager wildly slashed the shears about, and Young-ja jerked me backwards just as the tip of the blade nicked my cheek.

Both of us slid to the ground and watched Trager let out a pathetic scream as his bones and organs were compressed into dust. The shears slipped out of his grip, falling through a crack between the floor, and his body slumped forward.

And all was silent once more.

Richard Trager was finally dead.

Blood dripped down his back from his severed abdomen and onto the elevator floor, tapping against the metal rhythmically.

As blood slowly began to accumulate into a puddle, a thought crossed my mind and I couldn't help but crack a smile at it:

How to make Trager juice

Step 1: Squeeze

I peeked over at Young-ja, a blank expression on her face as she stared at Trager's corpse. But, faintly, I could make out a tiny smile on her lips and that was all that mattered.

Suddenly feeling drained, I slumped against Young-ja and buried my face in her hair, and for a while, we just sat there.

Listening to Trager's blood drip onto the metal floor.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

A/N: This chapter is the epitome of the saying "Good people are capable of terrible things if pushed far enough" Trager pushed Miles, and he re payed the deed in full. So~ onto the the next part of the asylum! And yes, Young-ja is still haunted by what Gluskin and The Walrider did to her. Now that Miles is with her, she is able to let go a little, which means all of her trials are flooding her brain once more. And someone asked how to pronounce her name. It is pronounced "Yeong-ja" and means "prosperity" and "eternal". Like Miles' name comes from the saying, "Miles up shore without a paddle", Young-ja Upshur's name could mean "Prosperity up shore" which is good, or "Eternally up shore" which is not so good. Lol. Look forward to the next chapter!