Mine to Break

~~~~Darkness~~~~

This had certainly not been in my plan. I raked at the silvery smooth metal shaft, trying to stop my speeding descent, but it wasn't working. There was just nothing to grip on to. Instead, all I felt was a sinking feeling of dread every inch I slipped down, and pain in my fingers where my nails were being pushed at with more pressure than they could withstand under the best circumstances.

I just fell, and fell, and fell. Straight down into the terrifying darkness. Julio had obviously not been nice enough to make a sloping shaft like I had for Amy. So hard to find a curteous criminal nowadays.

Before I could even comprehend that the tunnel had ended, my body had met with the floor. The sickening smack of flesh hitting cement filled the air. Go figure, the guy hadn't even bothered to put down a comfy landing. Luckily, nothing FELT broken. Instead, it was just a massive wave of pain echoing from my whole left side, burning my skin, and setting my head to pounding.

"So this is the famous Lucy Diamond, is it???"

I blinked into the darkness, trying to find the voice I heard speaking to me. It was useless. My first impression of the place was that it was a basement of some kind. The floor was damp with sea water, the air thick and stale with irregular venting. In other words, the freaky shit sane people reserved for horror movies, and Halloween parties.

I couldn't see anything. Just blackness, and the wet stone beneath my fingers.

"I thought it'd be more difficult than this, Miss Diamond."

I gritted my teeth hard. This guy was pissing me off. I didn't HAVE to say anything, we both already knew he'd won this round. I wasn't giving up without a fight though. I may have gotten a little soft recently, kicking back in Spain, but I was still LUCY FUCKING DIAMOND. I was still the best, and some two-bit aristocrat criminal type wasn't taking that reputation away from me.

Biting back a muffled curse, I remember pushing myself off the ground, reaching for the gun I had tucked away into the waistband of my pants. Sure, I didn't believe in killing, but I did believe in living. Especially now that I had something to live for.

However, the big showdown wasn't about to happen. My stupidity had gotten me into this mess, and my stupidity seemed to be determined to pay me back for it. Suddenly, lights had turned on. Very BRIGHT lights, I might add. I was blinded once again, and by all things, brightness. All I could see was a big multi-colored fog of bright light. Now, THAT just sucked.

I did the only thing I could have done then. I relied on my training. Covering my eyes, I backed up until my rear was pressed against the wall, effectively lessening my chance of getting shot in the back while I couldn't see. I forced my body to crouch down, ignoring the niggling feelings of pain. So there I sat, curled up against a wall like a fucking joke, my gun held at ready when I couldn't even see the first thing in front of me.

My vision slowly cleared, and it was pretty damn obvious... I was fucked. 5 guns were trained on me, dead center. Great, how was someone even as fantastic as I am going to get out of this? Easy, I wasn't.

That was my last thought before the tranqualizer hit me hard in the chest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The thing that woke me up was pain. Immense pain. The kind of pain that makes you scream from somewhere besides your throat. The throbbing torment that seems to come from someplace other than your lungs entirely. You can feel it, like a caged animal inside your belly, clawing it's way up your spinal chord as if it were a ladder, until finally it rips its way out of your throat, releasing a primal sound unlike anyone could ever imagine unless they'd heard it themselves.

I couldn't have screamed like that, could I? Was I capable of such a thing?? All I knew then was that the pain at least was real, a tangible feeling I couldn't have made up.

My eyes were open, but I couldn't see anything, just black. It took me a long moment to comprehend that I had a thickly woven cloth over my head. Ahhh, no wonder I hadn't been able to see.

"Ahhh, so she's awake now hm??" I heard the voice of my tormentor. So smooth and suave. I hated it instantly. "Feel this, Miss Diamond?"

Before, all I'd known was 'Pain'. Where it was actually comming from? I didn't have the slightest clue. Did it really even matter WHERE you hurt? The only thing that mattered to me was that it hurt. The specifics weren't such a pressing concern. Now, however, I could feel exactly where it started. Something searing hot pressed itself to my back. I could feel my skin burning. I could feel it cooking like raw meat on a too hot flame, the skin blistering and peeling away as it heated up to extremes in a split second.

Remember that little thing about me being determined not to make anymore sounds? I had pride. I'd always had pride, but even pride only contains so much. Only honor can hold you back so far, and feeling my skin melting off was certainly my limit. Without even noticing it, I screamed again, my voice still managing to be loud, even through the bag that had been placed on my head.

I jerked my body, but it was of no use. I couldn't escape the pain. I couldn't escape the sick scent of burning flesh from reaching my nostrils. I was trapped, I was blind, I was fucking stupid, and I HURT. Most of all, I just HURT.

The rattling caught my attention, my years of thievery had taught me to be aware of my surroundings, and even now, it didn't just go away. I was standing, sort of. In truth, I was more hanging. I could feel it now. My arms were above my head, suspended by chains of some sort to the ceiling. My whole body was hanging by them actually, my feet barely skimming the ground. No wonder I felt like my arms had fallen off. How long had I been like this anyway???

"The amazing things you can do with just a kitchen knife and a propane torch, hm?"

I heard that chuckle again. Motherfucker. Goddamn motherfucking ASSHOLE!!! Sure, I wanted to scream and rant at him, but I knew people like this. I'd WORKED with people like this. Doing something like that would only please him even more. So instead, I bit the inside of my cheek, willing myself not to give him satisfaction that way.

It was too late to stop myself from screaming, but it wasn't too late to prevent myself from acknowledging him with words. Besides, I had a good excuse for that one. I wasn't used to this kind of pain... I wasn't a fucking marine. I was a Syndicate boss. As if i'd ever been kidnapped and tortured before, or fuck, as if i'd even been CLOSE to it. Dad didn't exactly prep me for being roasted alive by a quack under some rich spanish guy's freak-house.

"Really, Miss Diamond. Can't we be a little more co-operative? I know my brother sent you here, hm... Sent you here to steal my will, didn't he? He wants you to KILL ME. DOESN'T HE!?!?!?!"

The slickness of his voice had slowly died out, being replaced by almost insane histeria. I remember closing my eyes tightly, not really sure what the fuck to do. How the hell do I get out of this shit? How the fuck was I gonna get home? By then, I was already fresh out of ideas.

"Well... I'll show him what happens to his plans. I'll tell him."

The sudden blow to my stomach made me lose all the air my body had REALLY wanted to keep. With a soft 'OMPH' of pain, I bit my lip hard enough to bleed as my body swung like some twisted version of a human punching bag. What really hurt was actually trying to get the air back into my lungs. It felt as though my whole chest had been deflated, so pulling in air quickly expanded my lungs too fast and caused splinters of pain to scatter over my whole upper body. Julio just had the nerve to laugh.

"May as well bring in the expert..."

I already knew what this had summed up to. Pretty much the worse experiance in my entire life. The degredation and suffering of Lucy Diamond, Once thought retired from this kind of shit entirely. The humiliation of it all was already just as bad as the pain. Suddenly, a thought occured to me. Would it scar? Would Amy still think I was beautiful with some big ass burn scar on my back? Would her eyes still heat up at the sight of my body? Even if it did have a few viscious reminders on it... I really didn't have the time to think of these things.

"Hello, Lucy" A new voice. "Me and you... We should have fun."

This round of fun started with a good old fashioned beating. I winced as I felt the stinging blow to my shoulder. I bit my lip again when I felt the slam of flesh pounding into my collarbone. I tasted blood in my mouth when I heard the crunch of knuckles cracking against my jaw. The world tilted on it's axis, my body swinging uselessly back and forth. My very bones felt like they had nerves, and every single one was screaming. The pain consumed every inch of muscle, connecting in webs of raging fire.

Thought was a distant memory once again. I'd reverted back to the start of my stay in Julio's so-far-unseen room. Only pain was visible in my eyes and in my mind. It all started to twist together. The wicked laughter, and the fizzing of the torch lighting up again melding into one steady sound of agony. I screamed, I bellowed, I cried, and I steadily got more and more lost under the ocean of pain.

My voice grew ragged and raw from screaming. I could feel my skin weeping in red tears. It all passed by so very slow, and yet so fast at the same time. Things that had sat on my teachers desk as a child were suddenly the most hated objects in my life. I know now for a fact that getting a staple in the chest hurts a hell of a lot. A pattern of tacs sunk into your back is worse than that tattoo you got while drunk one day in highschool, and then later got removed with a laser. A ruler across the knuckles hurt like a bitch as a kid, but it's nothing compared to a piece of wicker.

The wicker was one of the worse parts of this experiance. You know those ugly ass lawn chairs your grandmother probably had when you were growing up? It felt like they were made of painted twigs and shitloads of glue? Yeah, that's wicker. It's strong and bends easily. I know this for a fact. I can still feel it actually.

When this guy said he was using a piece of wicker for the next part, I'd practically not given a damn at that point. I really just wanted to die or something. I wanted this to be over. My chest and back were bleading out of numerous holes, and my hands were completely useless, numb from holding my body up for so long. I couldn't even withstand the pain to move my leg, a small knife having been sunken into my thigh. I was consumed by pain. My body raked with it.

The wicker certainly made it seem like a funny joke. When that shit strikes your skin at full power? It RIPS it. I could feel my skin shredding open. Pain screeched like a mad hound, scratching at my back with licking flames of destruction. It hurt so damn badly, I actually pulled my body up with my limp arms as if that would help me escape from this torment.

At the site of me in so much misery, I guess that jerk off decide to make this part of my detour last even longer. This was where the interrogation began.

"HOW WERE YOU GOING TO KILL JULIO!?"

The lash whipped around my back again, splitting the skin from my spine all the way to the side of my breast. Bendy wood, great. I could feel blood dripping down my back into my pants. Even more sickening, I felt one of his tacs fall out, the sound surprisingly audible as the little metal item hit the floor. I tasted something wet, was it tears? Or was it just blood?

"HOW DID YOU GET THROUGH THE DEFENSES?!!?!"

A torn sob passed my lips, but that was all. I didn't have the strength for more. Even when that infernal thing slashed open my shoulder easier than cutting a baked potato, I couldn't muster the power to scream through my ravaged throat. I couldn't scream anymore. I gave up. My body growing lax as I fell into myself, locking the pain away for just a moment. Hiding in my own thoughts.

...Amy...

"WHAT WAS HIS TARGET!?"

I remember thinking that she must be so worried about me right now. Scud and I were best buds, so he'd worried when I randomly vanished at times, but no one else ever had. I imagined her blonde hair, reflecting the light of the dim lamps we had in out room. Her beautiful face tight with fear that I wasn't okay. Amy would care if I died... She'd cry if I was suddenly gone.

I tried to think of something less depressing than that. Sure, I felt the lashing as it got faster. I felt the rubber sole of his boot slamming into my ribs, and the histeric screaming getting louder. I even heard my own grunts and surprisingly deep cries of agony, but for some reason, my mind had detached. My thoughts were far away in a place even the pain couldn't touch.

Amy... She did the most adorable things sometimes. When we'd first moved to Barcelona, she'd insisted that she wasn't a neat freak, yet everytime I washed and folded clothes... The next morning, I'd notice that every single item had been refolded to military perfection, neatly put in juuuust the right place. Amy had never confessed to it, but of course we both knew the other person had noticed it. She'd just smile at me with the slightest spark in her beautiful eyes. Love broadcasting clearly in the tender way she stroked my cheek as she left for school on those mornings.

God, Amy, Don't you know how much I love you? Do you know i'd die for you? I said i'd give up crime, and in a moment of dip-shitted-ness, I forgot how very much I love you. All of this, I wouldn't regret any of this, just because I got to meet you. Can't you see?? Don't you realize it? I love you so damn much, I can't breathe. I love you so much, the world stops when I look into your eyes. I'm in love with you. Nothing will make me forget that again. Don't you know I love you, Amy?

zzzzzzZZZZZZZZZ

...The sound was what brought me back to my present reality. A mechanical zipping sound?? I had sincerely hoped that it wasn't what it fucking sounded like, but of course the damn thing was.

"I think you must have a few screws loose. Only an insane person doesn't respond to me."

Fucking electric drill.

The chains rattled, and somehow the will-power to scream bloody murder came back full force. Oh FUCK NO! My body writhed like a snake, my voice probably reaching Iceland from here with its volume. I didn't give a flying FUCK if it hurt! I was NOT letting this ASSHOLE take everything away from me with his stupid ass crime BULLSHIT!

"YOU DIRTY MOTHERFUCKER!!!", I bellowed harshly, fingernails scraping uselessly at the chains as I kicked my legs. They were tied together of course, but it made me feel better. The knife slid out of the wound it'd caused, clattering uselessly to the floor, but I didn't give a damn.

"YOU FUCKING PUSSY!!! YOUR BITCH ASS COULD NEVER CATCH ME UNLESS YOU LEFT SOME FUCKWIT PUSSY TRAP!! YOU COCKSUCKING ANAL RETENTIVE DICK!! DO YOU FUCKING HEAR ME?! I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!! DO YOU HAVE THE SLIGHTEST CLUE WHO YOU'RE FUCKING WITH!? HUH!!?!? I'M SHOVING A FUCKING BOMB UP YOUR ASS AND USING IT AS TARGET PRACTICE YOU LIMP DICKED EXCUSE FOR A FUCKING COCK-LOVING INCESTUAL MAMA-FUCKER! GODDAMN SONOFAFUCKINGBITCH!!!"

I'd had it. I was going home. Life was at home. Safety was at home. Painkillers were at home, but most of all, Amy was at home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Claude stared at the woman he'd been 'playing with' for the past two hours in shock. Torture was a family bussiness, passed on from generation to generation. You grew up loving it. Your Mommy taught you how to use Lye and soap to burn through skin chemically before she helped you with your math homework. That was just the way he'd been raised, and probably why the poor bastard was probably so fucked in the head.

At the moment though, the infamous Claude Fontaine was questioning the sanity of Lucy Diamond. This woman MUST be mad, because by now, everyone else had always started blabbering every single secret they'd had since they were nine and started masturbating to pictures of girls on the hoods of cars in their Dad's racing magazines.

This woman however, had remained silent during the whole process. Even when he'd delightfully put dry ice onto her skin, promptly ripping it off, she hadn't said a word. Just yelling in pain, and groans. Actually, she hadn't spoken when he'd ripped out a chunk of her hair either. Yet here she was threatening HIM??

Interesting.

With a bemused chuckle, Claude set down the drill. He had to see the face of the fiesty cat Julio had delivered to him. The dark black sack was removed quickly. Maybe he should have given himself more time to brace himself for the beauty before him? She was stunning. Of course he'd admired the lithe feminine body as he'd uncovered it in slashes, but it was rare to find a face that matched such a sensual form. The split lip, bruised jaw, and ripped cheekbone only added to the luscious beauty on the face of this one. Such pretty hateful eyes...

"FUCKING DOUCHE! YOU'RE JUST A GODDAMN ASSCLOWN, YOU HEAR ME?! I'LL FUCK YOUR SHIT UP FOR THIS! WATCH!!!! I'M GONNA RIP OUT YOUR FUCKING VOCAL CHORDS AN WEAR THEM AS A GODDAMN NECKLACE!! FEED YOU YOUR OWN GODDAMN RIBS ONE AT A TIME, YOU CUNT!!!" Lucy screeched, her booted foot finally connecting with his crotch. Claude keeled over for a moment before regaining control over his body.

"You fucking bitch!!!!!", Claude roared, reaching around for the drill. Lucy didn't seem to care about that, spitting in his face for good measure instead. "SLUT!"

The tormentor here wiped the spit off his face. Glaring darkly at damaged brunette in front of him. Oh he had something much better for her than this. Something that'd make her regret being born. Clause smirked, dropping his drill on the floor.

"I have you might like to see, Diamond. A new toy for the new slut.", He whispered darkly before turning around and stalking out of the room. Lucy just muttered a quick, 'fuck you' before the door slammed shut.

At least she could see now, right?? Lucy closed her eyes tightly, trying to conjure up an image of Amy's smile, but for some reason she still heard buzzing in her ear. What the hell WAS that?? Couldn't she at least have one moment of silence where she could sit here and think of Amy without all the splintering wounds being inflicted???

"Luz-y? I'm sorry, I had to wait until You ve'air alone before I could zpeak. Ze speaker iz too lo'ud. He would have no'ticed. I have... zero'ed in on you're... poz'i'tione?"

Lucy blinked. Either she was hallucinating a lot worse than she'd first thought, or voices really were talking to her.

"Natalia??"

"Oui, it iz, Moi."

HER EARPIECE!!!! THEY'D FORGOTTEN TO CHECK FOR A FUCKING EARPIECE!!!!

"I know you don't know me, but please, please please, I need you to get ahold of a man named Scud for me" Lucy whispered urgently. Trying to sound clear through her fucked up throat. Natalia just huffed.

"Zere iz no need for tis, Scood!"

Lucy closed her eyes tightly, desperately wanting to fucking cry right now. She didn't like begging, but she NEEDED to get home. She had something to live for now. She couldn't die here! Swallowing her pride, the thief said one word.

"Please"

"Psshaw, Non! I am ze... rez'cue'ing Vou myself. Sacre Bleu Diamon'. I vas zent he're as back uup. Which meanz... That for ze mome'te, Ve are part'nairs. Silly woman. You just wait while moi finds ze room. Already, I am in ze dung'eon."

Lucy blinked again. There was just nothing to say to that. How had she lucked out like this??

"Beside'z. My ah,ex? She iz friend of your ah, parmour. Girlfriend. We visit when she come home to france."

Oh no way...

"Dominique?"

"Oui oui! Zat iz it. I am double agent, Oui? Debs, french recruit. So, zis is my favor. Since Amy bought me coffee zat one time on Ameri'can as'zignment..."

She was getting saved from the worse situation she'd ever been in beause Amy bought this woman coffee? Her girlfriend's overly sweet personality was seriously saving her from a slow tortuous death. Like, coffee? Seriously? She didn't know whether to laugh or cry from the absurdity of it all. Her mind was in an odd place at the moment. Someplace she couldn't express very well anywhere but in her thoughts.

"Here ve are, oui??"

Lucy struggled to lift her head as the door opened. Even she couldn't miss the way the frenchwoman's eyes widened in horror at the sight of her.

"I know i'm beautiful, but it's rude to stare, Natalia."

~~~~~~~I~~~~~~~~

I knew I looked like a fucking monster. I could feel the blood drying in places, still sticky or flowing in others, but I didn't care. The moment she released the chains, I crumbled to the ground. I didn't give a fuck about the pain, or the fact that my clothes were practically shredded off my body. All I really gave a damn about was finding that bastard who'd dared to do this to me. Him and Julio were mine.

Natalia protested as I pushed myself off the floor, but even she knew by the look in my eyes, it was no use. Those motherfuckers were mine. It was one of those rare moments when someone simply understands and accepts the situation. Without a word, Natalia handed me her reserve gun. Staying behind me as we left the room.

That room will only live in my nightmares now. I looked at it in entirety only one time, memorizing my own blood splattered across the walls, a few obvious chunks of the soft skin at my wrists hanging from those goddamn chains. This was really it. The end of Lucy Diamond. This was all that her life of crime had been leading to. Pain, death, and hopelessness. She would never be here again. I nodded slightly before Natalia shut the door.

I hadn't cared that I left bloody footprints everywhere I stepped. I didn't give a damn as long as I found him. Of course, my tormentor hadn't gotten very far at all. We found him hunched over a drawer, cursing as he shuffled through a series of metal and wooden objects I knew would have been the death of me.

"Miss me??"

When he turned around, I got one quick glance at his face before I shot him dead center in the skull. I didn't believe in murder. I did believe in revenge, but even I wouldn't torture someone. I was better than that, afterall. I knew that much at least.

In some odd way, I was pleased. Bloodied, fucked up, tortured, and left for dead in a dungeon, and I still managed to find Julio without a single person noticing. It was distasteful. It made me feel dirtier than just having my own blood on my hands, but these men were too crafty to be caught by the law, and too evil to live. I'd gladly soil myself to stop anyone else from feeling this way, especially long term.

I just wanted to go home

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Natalia glanced at Lucy with a speculative look. The thief hadn't said very much since they'd left the manor. Nicolae had gotten his ring, and Lucy had gotten medical treatment. Nicolae's personal doctors had tried to insist she stay still, she was too damaged to just leave, but the brunette hadn't seemed to give a damn what they insisted. Grabbing her jacket and leaving without even bothering to protest.

Natalia had followed her outside, watching as the beautiful but battered woman stared expressionlessly at the full-moon.

"...I want to go home..."

She'd gone to find the car keys immediately. Now here she was, carefully looking at Lucy with speculative eyes. Not sure of how to break the silence in the other woman.

"Zis, is right'full'ie yourz..." Natalia spoke quietly, handing Lucy the large diamond. Lucy simply stared at it for a long moment before handing it back.

"I don't want it."

"But zen! But zen zis waz all for not'ting??"

Lucy shook her head, unable to explain herself. Her dark eyes seemed to drift off as she thought carefully, until finally she seemed to have at least some words to say.

"I realized something I've been waiting my whole life to see. I found myself... I don't need Diamonds to tell me who I am anymore. I don't need that. I found something better... Not the way I wished I'd learned it but... a hard life deserves a hard ending I guess..."

Natalia didn't understand, but she nodded anyway. Lucy was damaged from head to toe, drugged up on a plentitude of pain-killers, and yet she was sitting here smiling? Master-criminals confused the hell out of her.

"Thank you" Lucy whispered softly.

"Any'time"

Lucy cast her a quick smile before exiting the car. They were still the types who didn't need to talk much to get the point across.

~~~~~~I~~~~~~

I didn't know how the fuck I was going to explain this to Amy.

~~~~End of Chapter 3~~~~