๓ครợยгค๔є

[Unbreakable Justice]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxAll the broken pieces left unglued
xxx → Should never find their way
xxxxxxx into the hands of x( x s o m e o n e x )x like you !

Vincent nodded to her idea, giving her one hand at a time just like before. Originally, he was planning to give her both, but he needed at least one to remain upright. It was getting bad enough between pain and exhaustion that he wasn't sure how much longer he was going to be able to stay upright even with one of his arms holding up the weight. Still, he let her work as she needed, following directions as she was giving them.

Though he had done rather well to keep quiet, it was easily the worst pain he had ever felt in his life that had related to stitching. From his hands being so raw already, them being stabbed made them far worse. He started shaking extremely badly, fighting to keep his hands steady but nothing he did helped him an ounce. He hurt so much and felt so sick to his stomach that the mere thought of sitting still was impossible. He tried to use some of that energy to bounce his knee, but that only could hold him off for so long before he just returned to watching his hands shake. He swallowed hard then nodded to her when she finally finished up with his hands. He didn't even bother looking at his shaking hands as he held them to his chest, the shaking moving up into his entire body.

He fixed the pillows so he could remain sitting up as he needed for eating and his IV. He held his arm out for her when she put the IV in, then got comfortable. However, shortly after being stuck with it, he was so exhausted that he passed right out. The fact that his ribs would be looked at later were lost to him as he lightly breathed with his head rolled to the side.

Damian caught the end of it however as he stepped through the door. He let out thankful breath of air. "I'm so glad that he's finally sleeping soundly enough to sleep through food," he chuckled as he put the large platter down on the nightstand. "Dig in before he wakes up, I don't know how much you'll have if you wait." The man grabbed some bacon himself, smiling as he munched on it.

「 I'M IN THE DARK... 」xxxxxxxxxx

 

[VVanderIust]

ＳＡＲＡＢＥＬＬＥ ＦＡＹ Ｏ' ＤＥＡＲ

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Belle was impressed by just how well Vince held up while she took care of his wounds, despite the fact that his hands were shaking. It had made her work a little bit more difficult, but she did a good enough job of holding his hand still while she worked that it wasn't too big of a deal. She still couldn't believe that he had beaten his hands raw over the mere idea of her getting attacked when she actually had been attacked without his knowledge - as far as she was aware. She was reminded of the violent way that Ryder had gotten Andrew off of her and then proceeded to beat him to a bloody pulp. She could only imagine what that man's hands looked like - and his ribs.. he had been kicked several times. As Vince passed out in front of her from the exhaustion of staying still while she bandaged his wounds, she leaned forward, intending to get a look at his ribs. She was snapped out of it when Damian entered the room and she pushed the nagging thought from her mind about the similarities in injuries.

She smiled at Damian's comment, her eyes drifting from him back to the unconscious man before her. "Yea, he definitely needs as much sleep as he can get. He did a number on himself." she said, sighing heavily before running a hand through her hair. She thanked Damian for the food as he set the large platter down on the night stand, wondering if Vince had brought up the idea of her moving in to him. She didn't want to just spring it on him, but she wanted to know if he was okay with it, and now seemed like as good of a time as any. Before she asked however, she picked up a piece of bacon herself and chowed down on it quickly. She had been more hungry than she thought, but she waited to eat again so she could ask Damian what she had been thinking.

"Damian, did Vince mention anything to you about me moving into a room here?" she questioned, running a hand through her hair nervously as her eyes shifted to meet the older man's. "Of course I'd pay rent and everything like that, it would just make my life easier and save time and allow me to get more sleep." she said gently, not mentioning anything about the safety factor that had pushed her over the edge with her decision. She grabbed a plate from the platter Damian had brought and loaded it up with some eggs, digging in with a fork as she waited for his response. She didn't want to be rude and not wait for him to respond before she ate but she was literally starving, so there wasn't really any room for hesitation.

……………………………………………………………………

 

[Unbreakable Justice]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxAll the broken pieces left unglued
xxx → Should never find their way
xxxxxxx into the hands of x( x s o m e o n e x )x like you !

Damian stood next to Belle as he loaded up his own plate of food. He nodded in agreement over the pain. "Very, very true," he said as he sat in a chair next to her. He munched at his food for a few minutes before she asked if he had known about her moving in. Again he nodded to her. "Vincent informed me yesterday that he asked you. I'm actually the one who suggested it, he was very into the idea once I did. So, as the one who planned it, yes, I'm entirely okay with you moving in."

He looked over to the side though as he saw Vincent stir a little bit in bed, slowly start to shift. He rubbed his face and looked over at the food, snarling as he started shifting again, waking up from his short pass out. He slowly started to sit up, but he only seemed to sit up to pass out more. "Holy s**t ********... drugs," he muttered before he fell onto his side entirely asleep again.

"Wow... how much did you give him?" he asked curiously before taking another bite of bacon.

「 I'M IN THE DARK... 」xxxxxxxxxx

 

[VVanderIust]

ＳＡＲＡＢＥＬＬＥ ＦＡＹ Ｏ' ＤＥＡＲ

……………………………………………………………………

Belle could only let a small smile slip across her lips as Damian nodded in response to her question. She had been worried about possible miscommunication between the two in terms of her living here and she couldn't be more pleased that Damian was okay with it too - actually that he had suggested it. She shouldn't have been as surprised as she was, but a look of shock crossed over her face only briefly as she shoved another bite of eggs in her mouth. "Thank you, I really do appreciate the offer. I told Vince today that I wanted to accept it and move in, so I just wanted to check with you too." she said with a grateful smile, shoving yet another bite of eggs into her mouth in the mean time. Her head turned too when Damian's eyes shifted over to Vince and the two watched curiously as he stirred in bed. He seemed to be very disoriented, muttered something about drugs, and then passed back out.

Belle couldn't help but grin a little bit and shake her head, but when Damian asked about how much she had given him, a blank look passed over her face for a moment. How much had she given him? Standing to check the dosage on the IV, she shrugged a little before settling back into her chair. "Probably a little more than I should have, to be honest. But it's nothing that'll hurt him by any means. Just force him to get some much needed rest." she said casually, not letting it slip that she hadn't done that on purpose. It wasn't that big of a mistake, but it was a mistake and she didn't really make mistakes when it came to her medical work. She didn't have much time to dwell on this however as her pocket started buzzing. Setting the plate down, she pulled the phone from her pocket to see the hospital was calling. "Sorry, I have to take this." she muttered to Damian, picking the phone up and walking out into the hall to take the call.

Once out in the hall, she leaned up against the wall only a few paces away, not really caring too much that Damian could hear her conversation. She hadn't really expected it to go the way it did. "Hey Sarabelle, it's John. Andrew's friend. I went to see him this morning and he wrote me a little message about what happened last night. Not sure why you didn't rat him out, but if you choose to in the future, it's going to cost you. So just watch your back. Also, I'm actually calling because your hours have been cut back. Don't bother coming in today." the man over the phone said, his voice deep, yet smooth and sadistic to match that of his friend. Belle only paused for a moment, biting her lip to hold back that tears that threatened to escape her. "What do you mean my hours have been cut back?" she hissed into the phone, not even bothering to address the first part of John's statement. She didn't want him to know how bothered she was by his threat. "I may have filed a complaint about your ability to do good work. You'll be under observation the next few weeks." he said, laughing in her ear and she could only imagine the grin that sat on his lips. "Why would you even do that? I need those hours.." she started, only to be cut off by more laughter on the other side of the phone. "Get over it, girly. It is how it is." was the last she got before she was hung up on, the line doing dead.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she shut her phone, wiping a hand over her face to battle back the tears that threatened to show up there. She was just so tired and so overwhelmed and everything seemed to be going wrong lately. She wasn't sure how she was going to make this okay. After taking a few moments to collect herself, she finally made her way back to Vince's room, sitting back down on the chair beside Damian. She sat in silence, eating her eggs for only about a minute before she spoke up. "I don't have hospital work today." she announced quietly, her words faltering ever so slightly. She didn't look at Damian when she said this and instead watched the sleeping man in front of her.

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[Unbreakable Justice]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxAll the broken pieces left unglued
xxx → Should never find their way
xxxxxxx into the hands of x( x s o m e o n e x )x like you !

Damian ate quietly in his chair, saying nothing as Belle was on the phone. While he couldn't hear the other end of the conversation, he knew plenty well what was going on. Having had eavesdropped on Nicholas' phone calls plenty of times, he was rather good at guessing what was going on the other end. He gave an irritated look over at his sleeping master and shook his head. "Should have killed the ********, Hughes," he muttered under his breath as he stared at the seeming knocked out Vincent.

When she came back into the room, he said nothing either as she returned to eating. At the announcement, he had to catch himself from saying that he knew she didn't have to work that day. "Then do you want to work on getting settled in, just watch a movie? And I was thinking, since you're taking care of Vincent, why don't we simply trade that off for the rent? That way, we don't have to exchange money that will go right back to where it came from?" Damian said, trying to change the subject so not to upset her further. Mentally he was just willing Vincent to wake back up because she seemed calmer when he was awake verses asleep.

「 I'M IN THE DARK... 」xxxxxxxxxx

 

[VVanderIust]

ＳＡＲＡＢＥＬＬＥ ＦＡＹ Ｏ' ＤＥＡＲ

……………………………………………………………………

Belle glanced over at Damian when he responded to her announcement about work. She was completely unaware that he knew of the previous night's events of what had happened to her, so she felt like she was doing a decent job of keeping it together. For a girl that wanted nothing more than to just cry herself to sleep right now - and more importantly, just sleep - she thought she was doing a pretty decent job of holding it all together. His suggestion of getting settled in and the trade off of rent for her pay sounded good to her, so she nodded at him, swallowing the bite of food she had just shoved in her mouth.

"That works perfectly for me. As far as getting settled, would it be okay if I actually just got some sleep for now? I don't really want to have to drive back over to my apartment and move things over right now. It's probably not safe to drive on so little sleep." she said, not even thinking about the fact that she was disclosing to him how exhausted she was. She bit her lip slightly when she realized this, but hoped that he would let it slide, not wanting to have to answer any possible questions. One mental breakdown was enough for one day and although she was definitely comfortable around Damian, she didn't want to disclose that type of information around him. She hadn't even wanted to tell Vince what had happened, so another person didn't need to know.

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[Unbreakable Justice]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxAll the broken pieces left unglued
xxx → Should never find their way
xxxxxxx into the hands of x( x s o m e o n e x )x like you !

Damian nodded to her request. "Take what you want to eat and I'll take you to the room you stayed in last time you crashed here. When you are feeling better though, I'll let you pick out a room or redecorate one if you desire," he told her with a gentle smile. Again he found himself looking to Vincent as he lightly snored, laying over his pillows like a rag doll. That part of him that wanted him awake and on this mission was growing even more. Though he didn't like the way he handled Andrew, right now it appeared that he hadn't used his methods as well as he thought he had. Whomever was pulling the strings was going to get it that night when Vincent rose.

"I hope you do feel better after a nap though, Miss O'Dear, for both yours and Vincent's sakes," he told the nurse as he awaited to take her to the designated room for her. "And don't worry about your hospital stuff for now, just rest. Nothing can ever be done without getting the proper sleep."

「 I'M IN THE DARK... 」xxxxxxxxxx

 

[VVanderIust]

ＳＡＲＡＢＥＬＬＥ ＦＡＹ Ｏ' ＤＥＡＲ

……………………………………………………………………

Belle smiled gratefully at Damian when he mentioned that he would take her to the room she had been in the last time she had crashed here. She didn't hesitate to load up her plate a little more, not being shy about how hungry she was. She literally hadn't eaten since yesterday morning, so she definitely needed the nourishment. "Thanks Damian." she said quietly, forcing back a yawn that tried to escape her lips and flashing him a tired smile. She stood from her chair and stole one last glance at Vince, hoping that he would be okay. The man just seemed to consistently beat himself down and that couldn't be healthy at all.

Belle thanked Damian again when he said that he hoped she felt better after a nap, for her own sake and Vince's. She knew that she needed to get her act together in order to take care of him properly and it kind of hurt that she was struggling to do that right now. She wanted nothing more than to help him be alright. She followed Damian to her room then, nodding a bit at him when he told her to try not to worry about the hospital stuff. It was a hard thing not to worry about, but she didn't argue with him about it. She'd keep her concerns to herself like normally did. "Thanks again, I really appreciate this." Belle said, smiling a bit at him before he left. Closing the door behind him, Belle flipped the light switch on for the room and headed over to the bed that await her. She slipped her shoes off and made herself comfortable, chowing down on the food before her before she even thought about drifting off to sleep. As soon as the food was gone and she was safely under the blankets however, she fell asleep quickly, exhaustion finally taking over.

It seemed that sleep wouldn't grace her for long however and she woke up only a measly six hours later with a gasp, jolting up in bed. She pressed herself up against the backboard of the bed and whimpered, desperately trying to get away from whatever it was that was haunting her. Her eyes shot open then and she let a quiet sob shake her body, pulling the blankets up in an attempt to keep herself covered and safe. She hadn't had nightmares in years, ever since she was a little girl, but this was nothing like what she had experienced before. It was a haunting memory of the way Andrew had touched her and his hands against her skin. She rubbed her arms a little to create some friction and bring herself back to reality, trying to get rid of the feeling of his hands that seemed to be burned into her skin. She eventually got up and walked to the bathroom adjacent to her room, splashing her face with water to wake up fully. She was still exhausted, but now she was afraid to go back to sleep. To be haunted by that memory.

She walked back into her room then, feeling a bit better now that she was awake. Not bothering with her shoes, she stepped out of her room and into the hall, finding it was near night fall at this point. Following the way Damian had lead her to her room, Belle headed back to Vince's room, carefully opening the door and peeking in. He seemed to still be out so she shut the door gently behind her then, wondering what she could do now. Damian didn't seem to be anywhere around and he had said she could look at the other rooms later, so she took it upon herself to explore. The mansion was massive and she seemed to find herself a bit lost among the maze of hallways as she peaked in some open doors. Eventually she stumbled open a large set of doors that seemed incredibly out of place and her curiosity got the best of her. Pushing the doors open, she peeked in and immediately stopped dead in her tracks.

Whatever she had just stumbled onto looked like some sort of armory. Taking a few more steps into the room, she looked around with awe at the expanse and the utter disaster that seemed to have happened in this room. Things were smashed and broken like someone had ravaged the place. She spotted a smooth black bike a few steps away from her and slowly made her way over to it, running her fingers across the cool metal. Something flashed in her mind then and she flinched at the memory of a motorcycle speeding off after her encounter with Ryder. This bike looked awfully similar. "No.. that's crazy..." Belle muttered out loud, stepping away from the bike and almost tripping over the cracked remains of something else in the process. Taking in a deep breath, she quickly made up her mind to leave the room, shutting the doors securely behind her. Whatever that was, it wasn't something that she wanted to discover right now. She already had enough conflicting thoughts going on in her mind that she didn't have the space to worry about some sort of secret lair in the process.

Collecting herself, Belle made her way away from the room, but kept track of how to get there in the back of her mind. Though she was choosing to ignore it's existence for the time being, she planned to go back and investigate later. The memories that bike sparked seemed all too real and it was worrying her more than she was letting on. Why would Ryder's bike be in Vince's mansion? Shuddering at the idea that crossed her mind, Belle slowly made her way back to Vince's room. She let herself in without a sound again and settled into the cozy arm chair across the room. She pulled out a book to keep her mind occupied on something else and tried to focus on reading it while she waited for Vince to wake. She couldn't keep herself from stealing glances at he sleeping man however, wondering if any of her budding suspicions could be true. But how could this man who had been nothing but kind to her be that vigilante she had seen in the alley last night?

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[Unbreakable Justice]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxAll the broken pieces left unglued
xxx → Should never find their way
xxxxxxx into the hands of x( x s o m e o n e x )x like you !

He had easily slept in his drug induced unconsciousness. Nothing bothered him but the external world as he constantly kept waking up when Gypsy came back or when he had noticed the sun going down. Shaking his head, he curled back up tighter into the blankets. However, Belle opening the door woke him again, but he kept his eyes shut this time. With the door closed again, he picked his head up off the ground and looked at the alarm clock on his nightstand. It was another half hour before his alarm would go off so he took fully advantage of it.

Right on schedual, at eight o'clock, his alarm went off, beeping angrily at him. He growled right back and smacked the thing off with his palm, aware that he couldn't just smash it like usual with his fist. When he started to sit up to get his IV out, he saw that Belle was still there. "Decided to stay around?" he asked quietly, feeling panic brew in the pit of his stomach. If a person having an alarm set for eight at night to wake him wasn't suspicious, he didn't know what would be. "I thought you would have gone home by now."

He pulled the IV from his arm carefully and covered it back up with a small bandage. Gently he rubbed it with his palm and stood again to go hunting for clothes to wear while he warmed up. Belle or no Belle, he had a job to do.

「 I'M IN THE DARK... 」xxxxxxxxxx

 

[VVanderIust]

ＳＡＲＡＢＥＬＬＥ ＦＡＹ Ｏ' ＤＥＡＲ

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Belle settled into her book only minutes after arriving in Vince's room, allowing herself to be carried off to a different world where she didn't have to worry about the thoughts that plagued her mind now. She was compartmentalizing again as she read, putting things aside and trying to focus on what she deemed as important in the moment. Staying around Vince and making sure he was okay seemed to always take number one, no matter what was happening with her, which was the only reason she was still sitting here waiting for him to wake up.

When his alarm went off across the room however, she raised an eyebrow curiously, wondering why he had an alarm set for 8 o'clock at night. It seemed a bit odd and set off warnings in her head, but she tried to ignore this, shutting her book and smiling slightly at him instead. "Got called off work today and ended up crashing here, I was too tired to drive home. Just figured I'd wait for you to wake up so I could check out your ribs before I headed home to get my stuff." Belle explained, setting her book down as she watched him rise from bed, looking for something to wear. She frowned slightly, wondering what he was planning on doing, and stood herself, walking over to stand in front of him. "At least let me wrap your ribs before you go off to do whatever it is you had an alarm set for." she said gently but firmly, her curiosity slowly getting the best of her.

What could his reasoning possibly be for having an alarm set at 8 at night? It made her wonder if he slept away every day like this and that was why he was always so disoriented when she came around in the morning. Whatever his reasoning was for sleeping the day away and staying up all night, her mind kept being drawn back to one conclusion - Ryder. Excusing it as her own paranoia, she just pushed the thoughts away and stored them for later, waiting for him to allow her to wrap him up.

……………………………………………………………………

 

[Unbreakable Justice]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxAll the broken pieces left unglued
xxx → Should never find their way
xxxxxxx into the hands of x( x s o m e o n e x )x like you !

He looked at her when she stood in front of him. He pulled a black t-shirt out of his drawer and then tossed it on top of the dresser before adding boxer briefs to the pile. "Yeah, sure, no problem," he agreed, his voice quieter as he got into the mindset that he needed to be in for this mission - whatever it would be. He ran his fingers through his hair and knelt down to pull sweats out of his dresser as well. He threw them on top of the pile as he stood, his knees cracking as he did.

He grimaced only for a second before he walked back to the bed to sit down for her. "Do whatever you need, I've got time," he assured despite having a tone of urgency in his voice. Though he knew that he had all night to fight, he also knew that the sooner that he got out there, the sooner that everything would be taken care of. "How did you sleep? You look like you could use some more though."

While the outside of him was entirely calm though, his mind was in a state of panic. She looked like she was putting things together in her head. Knowing who he was at night was something that she could be building on. If he hadn't just beaten someone's face in the night before, he wouldn't have been nearly as worried. That wasn't an option though as he had beaten Andrew's face in and she saw it. That wasn't something he was going to be able pass off. It would be impossible.

「 I'M IN THE DARK... 」xxxxxxxxxx

 

[VVanderIust]

ＳＡＲＡＢＥＬＬＥ ＦＡＹ Ｏ' ＤＥＡＲ

……………………………………………………………………

Belle watched as Vince tossed clothes on top of his dresser, his movements displaying a sense of urgency that he was obviously trying to keep from her. Whatever his reasoning was for setting that alarm, it was pretty clear to her that he wanted to get to it now. He agreed with her regardless though and she watched as he pushed himself up to stand again - his knees cracking loudly in the process. She sighed heavily at the sound, running a hand through her hair. She could only wonder how many more beatings his body could take. She followed him when he walked back over to his bed, opening up her med kit and rummaging around for the wrappings she's need for his ribs. She looked up at him and raised an eyebrow at his words about having time, the tone in his voice giving him away. She didn't say anything about it though and let it slide, pulling what she needed from the kit and moving over to him.

"Shirt off." she said, watching as he removed the shirt he had been sleeping in to finally expose his ribs to her. She gasped gently and stared at him for a moment before her eyes trailed back down to his ribs. They had been broken again and despite her will not to remember, a flash of Andrew kicking Ryder's ribs and the sickening crunch that had followed played back in her mind. Without even thinking before she spoke, she said "Looks like someone kicked you. Must've taken more than one kick to break them again.. and it seems like they knew you were injured." Her voice was calm and controlled, but she was studying Vince for any sign of a reaction with every single word that left her lips. She was basically recounting exactly what had happened to Ryder last night and she wanted to see if any sign of recognition showed up on his face.

His question about her sleep through her off a bit though and she ran a hand over her face, composing herself. She hadn't slept well at all, but she didn't want to tell him that. "Fine, but yea, I could always use more sleep." she admitted, sighing heavily. She was exhausted and confused and conflicted and upset and basically feeling such a wide range of emotions that it was driving her crazy. "But we have to worry about you right now, Vince. Let's get your ribs set and wrapped." she said gently, instructing him to get in position. They'd done this enough times that it seemed like second nature by now. Once he was ready, she carefully and quickly set his ribs in place, wrapping them as well as she could possibly muster. She had a feeling he wouldn't be staying still, so she wanted to make sure that he was as protected as possible. "You're all set." she said gently, moving away from him so that she could pack up her medical kit again.

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[Unbreakable Justice]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxAll the broken pieces left unglued
xxx → Should never find their way
xxxxxxx into the hands of x( x s o m e o n e x )x like you !

He nodded at her request and slipped his thumbs under his collar behind his head, he started lifting, but almost as soon as he did, his side spazed. He swore under his breath and pulled it off with one hand, sliding his arms out of the sleeves before tossing it back onto the bed. He gently placed a bandaged hand over his ribs and hunched slightly to help them hurt less as just pulling his shirt off had woken up a new pain in them. He bit his lip as he lightly panted, the pain making him dizzy again with having nothing in his body to really counter it. Then, she mentioned what had happened last night, exactly as it had happened. He tried not to react a lot to it, but it made his blood boil.

He let out a hot breath of air and closed his eyes, forcing himself to retain his control. Thankfully she was thrown off by his question to so he had time to react. "Just get some sleep tonight. If it makes you feel better, feel free to crash in here. I meant that because you spend so much time in here already," he said smoothly despite the fact he felt the need to cover up the fact that he was aware that she enjoyed his presence as he did hers.

He slowly stood again, his knee cracking less this time as he made his way back over to his pile of clothes to get dressed in. He held up his shirt over his groin as he wiggled into new underwear and sweats before putting the shirt on as well. With himself mostly dressed, he got his socks on as he walked back over to her. "I'll explain later," he told her gently then gave her a soft hug and kissed her head. "Get some sleep."

He then pulled away from her and walked out of the room.

Damian met him in the armory, trying to straighten things up from when he destroyed them. Vincent didn't spend much time helping, but he did put the picture back up of his mother and father when they were together. Though he had started out hating the man, the love for his mother was mutual enough that he had learned to forgive him for a hatred that was wrongly placed. This time when he got ready, he didn't have to fight with Damian over it as the butler was entirely on board with this. After having filled his master in what had happened with Belle on the phone, he too agreed that Andrew's partner needed a visit - however, they agreed for that to happen later. It had still been less than twenty-four hours since Andrew was attacked and both feared Vincent having another break down.

He dressed in a second set for armor that Damian had made just in case that he destroyed the other pair. The suit was also a bit heavier than the last, but Vincent found himself enjoying it more as it was actually blocked like old fashioned armor. He smiled at it and then mounted his bike with a blood free helmet on over his face. He gunned his bike and left the mansion and headed back into the city for the second night in a row.

While this one had been much calmer than the night before in terms of disasters, Vincent was still rather busy. For some reason, the crime rate had gone up since Ryder's reappearance - at least the big gangs had increased. Before, there had just been a few stragglers that wanted him dead. However, now, there were a lot that wanted him dead. Still, it wasn't too much, it could be easily managed with minimum damaged to Ryder. Already having been tired though, made it a little harder for him.

However, as he was heading back, he stumbled across the monster he didn't want to find. There was a local gang that had been taken over by a new leader. He had crossed them before, they hadn't been any big deal before as they were just small level scum. As he rolled is bike to a close to check them though, these weren't the same low level thugs he was use to. "Damian... This is the area of the Hallo Wings, right?"

"Yes, that's where your father had the most dealings with them and they hadn't dealt with anything that was any more recent... Why do you ask?"

"Because I don't think these guys are normal anymore," he stated as he dismounted. He slowly stalked forward with his gun drawn. "I'm going to go look. I want to see what happened." He climbed off and ignored any further warnings from Damian in his headset. He walked very slowly to the warehouse, hunched under the windows the best he could with his throbbing ribs. He made it inside without a problem, nothing going on or visible. He stalked to the center of the room, cocking his gun. However with the noise it made, bright lights exploded into the center. The sudden bright light blinded him and he covered his face with his arm, screams and laughter filled the room as the gang bangers surrounded Vincent's blind form.

"Hello, little Ryder, I see that your father has handed his gear down! It's a shame that he wouldn't just let his legacy rest. It could have ended with a beautiful death, but instead he has to let it be tarnished by his b*****d child," the voice spoke, his laughter filling the air.

Ryder slowly rose up, trying to blink his vision back into existence. Though he couldn't see overly well, he recognized the b*****d ginger from graveyard that had stopped him on the first day into town. "You ********! You're the one who killed him!"

The redhead stalked across the railing and gave a big smile as he walked without a limp anymore. He gave a gentle bow and then reached over for one of the cleaner looking thugs in a suit much like him, but wearing opposite colors. "Aren't you the sharpest little son?" he teased as he pulled the other man to him to hug him against his body. "I wasn't expecting you so soon though, you really put a hitch in my plans. Now my poor little pet will have to wait a few extra hours while I deal with you. I would personally handle you, but you aren't quite at my level yet... No offense meant to you, my love."

"None taken, master."

He smiled at his newly named pet and then waved him off. "I want him taken care of. Not dead mind you, I've got much bigger plans for him. However, have a little fun," he ordered him as he waved him off. He gave a sadistic smile as he leaned on the railing, appearing to be extremely excited over this battle.

The redhead's pet jumped over the edge of the railing and landed without a sound. He slinked forward like a cat after Ryder as the man kept his gun drawn and pointed at him. The man pulled on a pair of gloves as he walked, exposing the claw like knives at the end of each of his fingers. He ignored the warnings that he heard from Damian not to tango with this man. While this was only the second in command to the man who killed Vincent's father, Damian didn't think that he had a chance against him.

Before Ryder could even think of backing down, the man was on him. In a fast few steps, the cat-like man was upon him. He tore his claws at his helmet, digging deep into it, but not breaking it. Still, it was enough to make the attacked lunge backwards, but not before the claws tore his stomach open, cutting through the Kevlar easily and slipping under the zipper when it caught on his claws. Though it hurt badly, he fought to keep himself in control as he lunged forward, driving his palm straight into the monster's face as he protected his damaged hands. While he broke the man's nose, he didn't slow him very well. Just as Ryder had, this monster glided off from the attack much easier.

Both of their bloods splattered onto the floor as he they traded bare handed blows, every hit that Vincent made hurting him as his own hands weren't in the condition to help - even with his reinforced hands. Still, he traded blows with him, a snarl on his face and a fire in his eyes. However, the longer the dance continued, the more marked up that Vincent had become. While the Kevlar slowed down the claws, they still damaged him badly as he couldn't hold it off entirely with it meant to stop bullets, not knives. But he was holding his own. When the stitches in his hands broke though, he was out of time.

The pain from opening them back up topped the superficial wounds on his body from the kitty's claws. He had to go right then. Just as he realized it though, so did his attacker and he amped up the attacks even more. Seeing that it was going badly though, Ryder tore his gun off his hip and unloaded the gun single handed, firing wildly as he hadn't had much practice with the revolver as it had been on a "emergency only" basis. However, at close range, all but one of the six bullets hit the target. In the stutter of the cat, he lunged forward and drove his knee into the man's face and took off in a sprint.

"You b*****d, kill him!" the redhead screamed and jumped down off the railing after the bleeding vigilante. He sprinted after him as did the rest of his gang, the thugs firing wildly after him as he ran for his life. A few struck, but the Kevlar held and made the bullets feel like no more than sharp punches in the back. While it made him cry out, it wasn't enough to slow him down from reaching his bike.

Ryder jumped onto the back of his bike and started the engine fast. He snarled as he tore through the street, his hands hurting to hold onto the handles desperately. He raced home on his bike, struggling to keep his speed going. After giving Damian a heads up, he rolled into the armory and threw his stand down as he turned off his bike. At that point, he was wheezing from the adrenaline and how much his hands were hurting him again. He pulled his helmet off so he could breath easier, but the moment he did, he locked eyes with someone he didn't want to see down here with him.

"Belle."

「 I'M IN THE DARK... 」xxxxxxxxxx

 

[VVanderIust]

ＳＡＲＡＢＥＬＬＥ ＦＡＹ Ｏ' ＤＥＡＲ

……………………………………………………………………

Belle watched as Vince let a breath of air escape his lips, but she missed the way he shut his eyes when she had run a hand down her face. That two both had their own ways of composing themselves and they both had to use them at the same moment. It was rare for them to frustrate each other, even more so at the same time. He ignored her statement about his ribs, which made a slight frown find it's way across her lips. He was just moving on to telling her that she needed to sleep and saying that she could crash in his room instead. Normally a comment like that would've made a blush rise to her cheeks, but she was far too conflicted and annoyed right now for that.

After she finished with his ribs, her eyes followed him as he moved to get dressed. They rested on his face, his expression, wondering what was going through his head. His injuries, the armory, his sleep schedule.. it was all just adding up in a way that was far from comfortable. He walked back over to her then, saying that he would explain later and giving her a hug and a kiss on top of the head. Sighing heavily, she just nodded at him, irritation clear across her features. Her eyes followed him as he walked out of the room and as soon as he was gone, she stood from her chair, pacing around the room and running a hand through her hair nervously. This couldn't possibly be happening.

Belle spent the next few hours making a few runs back to her apartment and grabbing some of her essential things, keeping her mind from her thoughts about Vince and Ryder. She felt comfortable in the room she had crashed in a couple times and it was a good sized room, so she decided she would just be moving in there. She could only keep herself busy for so long though, the thoughts that swam in her head nagging at her relentlessly. Her curiosity begged her to go back to the armory and try to figure out more clues and after a while of trying to ignore it, she left what she hadn't unpacked out on the floor and followed the path she had memorized from earlier.

Once arriving at the same set of doors, anxiety built up inside of her and she took a deep breath, pushing the doors open before she had time to chicken out. Someone had been here. The place was cleaned up and.. the bike was gone. She shut the doors behind her and leaned heavily against them, trying to calm her heart that was thudding loudly in her chest. The bike was gone, Vince was gone. "s**t." Belle breathed out, every little piece of the puzzle clicking into place in her head. Vince was Ryder.

And then, as if on a cue, a bike came tearing into the large room she stood in, clad with a man in black. Ryder. Vince. He looked startled to see her there as he removed his helmet, his breaths unsteady and his gaze fixed on her. Belle froze in her tracks, biting her lip hard as she was overcome with emotions. She didn't know whether to run to him or run from him, the display of violence from the night before still haunting her mind. Though she knew now why it had been as violent as it was, it still hurt to think that this man - the man she had been slowly falling for - was the man who was capable of such things. Yet he was also a man who saved countless lives and was the self proclaimed vigilante of this city. He was brave, albeit foolish.

"Vince.." she finally breathed out, breaking the heavy silence that had settled over them. She approached him cautiously, almost like a wild animal afraid they might get hurt if they got too close. "A-Are you okay?" she stammered, stopping short of him as her eyes trailed over his body and the armor he wore. It all made sense now. The way that bullet seemed to have been deflected off of something when he was "mugged" or the way his hands had been ripped to shreds. She recounted every story she had been told since she started working there and suddenly she seemed to change her mind, stepping back with a forlorn look etched on her face. Did she even know this man at all?

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[Unbreakable Justice]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxAll the broken pieces left unglued
xxx → Should never find their way
xxxxxxx into the hands of x( x s o m e o n e x )x like you !

Vincent just stared at her as she walked up to him, him taking a step back from her anxiously. She too seemed to opt out of coming any closer once she had gotten into arms reach. He didn't even know what to say over the question if he was okay. The answer was no as he had been shot, cut up, and generally beaten that night. He felt like dropping righ there and passing out, but he wasn't sure he could say anything close to that. Besides, his physical pain was the least of the pain he was in at that moment. The woman he was in love with was giving him a look that was nearly fear.

Swallowing hard, he put his helmet aside very slowly and then stood back up right. He put his hands up despite the grimace it caused on his face as it pulled at his abdomenal wounds and ribs. "Please don't look at me like that," he said softly, his breath still running ragged as his blood soaked his under clothes. "I'm not any more likely to hurt you now than I had been, Belle. What I am doesn't change who I am to you, I promise." He had no idea in that instant if he could even recover the damage he just did by ariving back home in his armor. Maybe her moving in wasn't such a good idea.

"I can explain everything if you let me. You don't have to help me if you don't want to anymore, but at least let me explain what's going on. I promise I'm not the monster you saw last night," he told her, his painful as he felt like his heart had been shattered before she even accused him of any atrocities.

「 I'M IN THE DARK... 」xxxxxxxxxx