Warning: As usual, this is slash, but not my usual stuff. It’s more one-sided and this fic SHOULDN’T focus on the relationship if I write it correctly O.o; Also, you may find sexual situations, character death (okay, you WILL find character death), foul language (well, duh, look at all the other crap I write O.o), annnnd blood ‘n gore. If that’s not your cuppa tea, you probably shouldn’t read this. OH!! And as with Tumbling Down, this chapter takes place at the END of the fic, because it’s like... an epilogue stuck at the front. Anywho, it ties into the last chapter and I hope people don’t find it all confusing like some people did with TD >.>

A/N: Don’t ask >.> This fic’s just... not my usual stuff O.o; I’m not sure if this chapter makes any sense at all, or if it sucks or... what, so um... yes. See ya at the bottom! Unless you stop reading in the middle... then... I won’t see you at the bottom O.o; OH YEAH! By the way, I don't know Spanish... like, in the AT ALL sense. I know Japanese, but that doesn't help when the character speaks Spanish... so, yeah. I just went and yoinked the few Spanish words off of an online translator, so who knows if they're right! They sound right to me, though....

Tell me that you love me.

He walked into the room, eyes glancing over everything with little interest. Who cared about that lamp over there or the books lying on the floor or the broken shards of glass littered around an empty frame? He was searching, and none of these petty, mundane objects meant anything at all to him. They were just obstacles-- distractions. Yes, the discarded clothes; the phone dangling off of the receiver, swinging languidly like a pendulum; and the scattered papers were just there to keep him from wanting to find his treasure. They thought it would make him afraid, make him turn back for fear of seeing something he wasn’t prepared for, but they were wrong. It only made him more determined.

But the answer’s not here.

After giving the hotel room one more cursory search, he cast a sideways glance at the bathroom door. Well, besides the closet, that really was the only other place his possession could be found. Reaching a hand out, he twisted the doorknob and pushed the reluctant door open. He took a step forward, then looked down, realizing that he had just placed his foot in the middle of a small puddle of blood, its edges drying into a thin brown stain on the blue tile. Pity, someone would have to go clean that later. It was such pretty tile, after all...

Shaking his head, he brought his gaze up and caught sight of his goal. There, in the bathtub, with one bloodied arm dangling off the side, smearing fresh blood along the porcelain as it swayed back and forth peacefully. What lay before him, lounging in the midst of cloudy red water, appeared to be his treasured prize, but he knew it wasn’t. It was just a shadow of what he wanted, hardly worthy to even be called human anymore. Oh, it looked about the same. Same coppery hair, now freed from its ponytail and hanging down limply. Same sharp emerald eyes, no longer filled with cunning and a sly sort of intelligence. Same face; same lean body; same long, delicate fingers... Everything was the same save the smile. The little smirk that used to tug at those lips was gone, replaced with a crazed grin that seemed to have come straight off the face of the Cheshire Cat.

“Tell me that you love me,” it said.

He didn’t respond, only took a few more steps towards what remained of his loved one. “Let me help you.”

“I tried to get it off, you see. I tried scrubbing, tried cleansing, but the only thing that would work is this. See?” It stood up to show off its work, a proud glint in those jade eyes. “I did it all for you...”

He took a step back, sickened for a moment, but quickly pushed that aside. It wasn’t all that bad, he supposed. Sure, the thing’s inner thigh had been sliced up and mutilated-- the brand that was once there hidden in a mess of open gashes-- but that wasn’t anything doctors with needles and stitches and drugs and sterile white rooms couldn’t fix.

“I had to do it, you know. I had to cut away that mark so that I could be clean for you. I’m not tainted anymore... right?” The voice was so innocent, so questioning... He couldn’t bear to take that small bit of hope away from the creature.

Swallowing, he gave a small nod. “R-right,” he said in a hesitant voice, and it was now that he realized his hands were shaking just slightly. “You’re perfect. Come here.”

This elicited newfound energy in the thing, and like an eager child, it approached and embraced him, gashed up arms clinging to his body in an almost suffocating manner. “Mi amor,” it purred, face nuzzling against his chest. “Tell me that you love me, mi amor.”

“You’re bleeding. I need to get you away from here.”

“No!” it cried, fingers clasping onto his shirt in protest. Blood and water seeped into his shirt, dirtying the immaculate white cotton with stains that would stand as a permanent reminder of this night. “I want to stay right here,” it whispered, “with you. And I’ll be perfect and obedient so that I’ll never ever ever make you mad again, just so long as we stay right here forever.”

“If that’s what you want,” he murmured in reply, voice betraying no real emotion. In all actuality, he wanted to rip the creature away from him and demand to know the whereabouts of the person who was nowhere to be found in those wild green eyes. That person of a stubborn, haughty dignity who had too much pride to ever cling and grovel, to ever beg for anything in the world. That person who wasn’t afraid to steal, lie, cheat, do anything to get to the top... That person he really did care about, despite these faults.

He stared down at the marred body, sadness flickering in his eyes briefly as he took in what was before him. Every cut seemed to grin up at him triumphantly with the same twisted insanity as the thing holding onto him so desperately. Looking at the wounds, something stirred in him, an emotion he wasn’t accustomed to feeling.

“And we’ll be happy, yes? Because I love you so much and... and... you love me, right?”

Poor thing.

“R-right?”

I haven’t really loved anybody since Magda...

“Magnus?”

But I did love you. As close as I could come to loving anybody apart from her, at least...

It let out a despairing sob, and as the sound rang hollowly in the bathroom, the man known to most as Magneto knew now what he felt. Pity. He placed on hand on the back of its head and pulled it closer to him, stroking his fingers through long, tangled locks of hair gently. “I...”

I don’t think I can say it. I loved you-- the real you-- not this pitiful thing.

“Please, please, pleeease say it...”

“Where’s the knife?” Magnus finally asked, hoping to keep off of the subject of love for as long as possible.

“I dropped it,” came the whispered reply. “It fell in the water.”

“Ah.”

“I’ll get it if you want me to!” Its eyes lit up with a certain hope, suddenly excited at the mere prospect of making him pleased. Without another word, it released him from its hold and started for the tub, seemingly unaffected by the carnage tearing at the once smooth, flawless skin.

“Don’t,” he said softly, and the creature stopped and turned to him, confused and a little hurt. “You must be cold,” he added with a small smile. “Put a robe on and come with me to the bedroom.”

It nodded energetically, swiping a robe laying haphazardly on top of the toilet and wrapping it around its lithe body. With a small nod, he walked into the adjoining room, glancing over his shoulder once to see if it was following.

Of course it was.

He wished the robe wasn’t white. White stained too easily and besides, why did everything have to be that color? The porcelain, the bedsheets, his shirt, the towels, the skin that used to be so perfect...

“I’m sorry I left you alone,” he said suddenly, giving the creature a sideways glance. “I had no idea...”

“It’s okay! You’re back now and that’s all that matters. You’re with me because you love me.”

Persistent little thing, aren’t you?

He looked down at the floor, looked at the wall, tried looking everywhere except at the insistent creature. Still, he couldn’t help but take a quick, guilty glance at the thing that he helped create. The solemn face; the glistening eyes that bore a the slightest hint of disappointment, as if it already knew he couldn’t love it, but refused to admit it; the mouth twisted into a small frown; and the fragile body holding everything together were all his responsibility now.

But you wouldn’t want it this way, would you? You could never stand being dependent on another person. You could never stand those simpering little lovers who would cling to each other like emotional leeches. Why, if you were here right now, you’d probably tell me to slap some sense into this thing you’ve become, wouldn’t you? You’d probably tell me to shoot you and free you from this miserable existence...

“Of course,” he said smoothly, convincingly. “You’re so precious to me.” He cupped the chin in his hand and gently nudged the face up to look at him. “I love you.”

There it was again, that excited spark of joy in those brilliant green eyes. And then, it grinned that same Cheshire grin from before. “I knew you did, mi amor,” it purred.

A/N: Whee! That was... bleh! Anywho, the next chapter’s gonna deal with... *gasp* the REAL beginning of the story! And it’s gonna be BHfull. Yum. ^^ Oh, and if you don’t know who the psychotic redhead in this chapter is (and if you don’t know who “He” is, you obviously can’t read >.>), you’ll find out in the next chapter or... the next next chapter or... well, you’ll find out! Oh yeah, and I'm almost done with chapter 2 of "Pietro Maximoff in the Labyrinth" and it should be up soon ^^