100,000 or the girl? (Chainedkitten & BlisteredBlood)

When he took her into his arm she winced slightly but knew he was being as gentle as he could. Pressing her face, still wet with tears, into his shoulder she put her arms around him. Her grip was weak, and limp, even though she was trying to hold him with all her might. She was simply too drained to do so. She found a small comfort in being pressed against him, feeling his heat and remembering his smell.

When they got to the bathroom and he set her down on the lid of the toilet for a moment to run the shower, Asa whimpered. She tried to bed to take her skirt off but she couldn't. She could barely get the remains of her top off. The wound was too fresh and to painful for her to reach her sock, her panties or her skirt.

"Vincent.... I....I can't undress myself.... I... how am I going to take a shower?"

"Here, I'll help you out." Vincent offered, placing a hand over his chest before stepping over to her and assisting her with removing the rest of her clothing slowly and carefully until she was stripped stark naked before him on the toilet. Once her clothes (or lack thereof) were removed, Vincent once again scooped her form into his arms then carefully settled her form into the tub.

"Here we are..." He said softly. "If you need my help to clean you off, just say so." He said with a nod.

A blush crept into her face as he impersonally but gently removed her clothes. He didn't even react a little bit when he set her in the tub. Embarassed, and for some reason feeling uglier then she ever had before, Asa pulled her legs up, even though it hurt, to help cover her body. The water pelted down on her, washing the blood away.

"No. I can do it on my own.... you don't have to stay."

Turning her face from him she pressed it against her knees and winced. She might not be able to clean herself but she didn't want him in there stareing at her like that. Thank god the water was running over her face to mask the tears she couldn't stop. Even though she didn't know why she was crying.

Convinced that she could do this by herself, Vincent gave a silent nod as he slowly stood up on his feet and began walking out of the bathroom, allowing Asa her privacy to wash herself off.

"Now what am I gonna do...?" Vincent muttered to himself as he placed a hand over his face, trying to think about his next move. As he looked about the house, he took notice of the dead body that was lying there in the living room.

"Right... Gotta deal with that next." He said again as he walked over to it then knelt down.

"Poor bastard. You didn't deserve that, but you didn't give me much of a choice now, did you?" He said as he began picking up the dead body and slung it over his good shoulder with a grunt. From there, he then began walking out to the garage and stuffed the dead body in the trunk of the Carrera GT and shut it.

With that task completed, Vincent walked back into the house and sat down on the couch, smearing a hand over his face in exhaustion.

Sitting under the water she let it pelt her, it's force wiping away the blood, and her tears. Crying wasn't helping her or Vincent. And all she managed to feel was dead inside. The wound in her side hurt in a stabbing type of pain but she figured that was normal. As the water washed away all the blood she scrambled out of the tub, laying on the fuzzy mat for a moment before dragging a towel off the siderack and tossing it over her body. The bandage was soaked, but she was fine.

Asa had to wait several minutes before she had the strength to stand and to lightly pat herself dry of the water. Painfully she wrapped the towel around her and hobbled from the bathroom. The marks on her ankles and wrists were more apparent now that all the blood was gone. Feeling dejected she found Vincent on the couch.

"You should wash. My blood... it's all over you." Her voice was soft and weak. And she couldn't look Vincent in the eye.

"I'll wash off later. Besides, I gotta get this place cleaned up from last night." Vincent answered with a shake of his head as he spoke in a soft voice. "Besides, that's the last thing anyone wants to see, really." He added, noting the condition of the carpet.

"Holy dogshit, I gotta lot to do... Of those things, I gotta get you nursed back to health." Vincent said again as he leaned back into the couch and looked upwards to the ceiling in thought.

Asa watched him drop onto the couch like a man defeated. And she looked around at the mess. This was all her fault, and she knew it. Silently she moved to the kitchen and got a dish towel, soaking it under the sink before moving to the bloodstained carpet and dropping to her knees. Pressing the cloth to the ground she started to clean up the mess that she had inadverntantly made. Sadness rocked her body as she silently cleaned, feeling dead inside. Tears didn't even come. She just knelt there in a pool of blood, trying to clean it up with nothing but a towel on.

It's all my fault... It's all my fault.... It's all my fault.

"Asa, Asa..." Vincent said, stepping over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her from cleaning. "Stop. I'll take care of this, OK?" He insisted. "You need to rest." He added, carefully standing her up and taking her over to the recliner and sat her down.

"You stay here and rest, OK? I'll take care of this." Vincent concluded, pointing a thumb back to himself and gave her a reassuring smile of sorts.

"No, it's not ok." She resisted him, pulling her arms out of his grip and going back to the stain. "It's my fault, my mess, I'll clean it." She ignored the tearing pain in her side and scrubbed hard agains the carpet, well, as hard as she could givin the circumstances. "Just... go shower. I'll fix my mistake. It's all my fault anyways.... I should be held accountable."

Wiping a stray tear away with her arm she went back to scrubbing the floor. She was already useless in everything she did, a fact she refused to learn from her father but one that was more then understood now. The least she could do was be as little a neusence as possible, and pull some weight around here. Might aw well work herself into the ground, she'd be dead soon anyways.

With a deep rumbling growl, Vincent forced Asa to stop once more. "Dammit, I said stop! You're in no condition to be doing this!" He said forcefully. "Now please, let me take care of this while you go rest!" He added, keeping the same forceful tone he used. "Besides, I made this mess, so it's my responsiblity." He added, pointing a thumb at himself and frowned slightly.

It had been so long since he used that tone and she hadn't been expecting it, Asa yelped, dropping the cloth and covering her head. Turning her face away so any blows wouldn't strike her there. It had the unfortunate effect of making the towel drop, pooling around her hips, while her breasts were exposed. And while normally they were beautiful because of her treatment they were covered in bruises, and so were her ribs. The ace bandage around her middle stood out in stark contrast to her skin.

Her small shoulders trembled as she waited for a hit, which was a gesture that came normally with such a violent tone. When none came she slowly bent and picked up her towel, while dragging her body back and away from Vincent. Usless and ugly she huddled against the couch, keeping her head down and her legs drawn up against her body.

Vincent honestly couldn't understand why he snapped at her just now, but whatever he must've said in that heated tirade he used must've shoved that message through her head a little too clearly. He watched as Asa virtually crawled away from him like a reprimanded animal that had done nothing wrong.

Once more, Vincent soon found himself slapping a palm over his face in agitation. He didn't know why he was so close to nearly losing it with her, but he needed to calm down before he completely blew his gasket.

He did, however, hesitate on his first step, having completely forgotten where it was he was supposed to be going let alone figure out what he was supposed to be doing. No one's fault, of course, but Vincent's mind was literally going at about a million miles a minute as he stood there with his hands on his head, trying to calm down enough to gather enough sense in his head before he decided his next course of action.

For the first time in days, she was afraid. She was afraid of Vincent and the murderous expression on his face. He was so mad and she could see it on his face. Pressing her hand over her mouth she didnt' know what to do. She didn't know how to fix it or what to do anymore. He didn't want her to do anything, he didn't want her around. But everything that had happened was her fault. She knew it and so did he.

Trying hard she tried to get to her feet, stumbling yet putting her hand out to placate him, not to make him angry. Pressing her hand to her side she winces and sits on the couch, pressing herself against the cushions, almost trying to move away from him. If he burst she was the only soft thing around, he could easily throw her around to let off steam.

Asa looked up at him for a moment. "I...I....." Going silent she looked away.

Vincent's thoughts only became more and more clouded the more he tried to calm himself down. In truth, he was more mad at himself for acting the way he was around Asa as of recently, or at least within the first three hours of the morning.

After taking a few hard but steady breaths in through his nose and out through his mouth, Vincent began to calm himself down. Besides, there was no need to go off the deep end here and now. One of the things he had to do was to ensure that Asa was healing completely then get to work on the house followed by ditching that body somewhere.

Despite his blood pressure was still nearly going through the roof, Vincent turned his head to look over his shoulder and spoke in a strangely calm voice to her. "You need something to eat, Asa?" He asked, his voice matching the look on his face.

She shook her head, looking down at her bare feet on the brown couch. Silent and upset, she didn't want to make Vincent angry. She could tell how hard he was trying to calm down, and nothing she could do was making it better. Guilt wracked her mind.

'Vincent... I can clean. I'm fine. I swear."

Her voice was soft. Almostly like she was too shy to speak.

"Please Vincent."

"Asa, I'm trying to spare you from having to do this." Vincent stated calmly as he listened to her wanting to clean in his place. "Besides, you're in no shape to do so. Please, for your sake and mine, please let me handle all of this. I want you to rest for a little while and let those stitches I placed on you heal up properly. It may scar, but believe me when I say that it's a lot better than having you aggravate that to the point where it opens back up again, OK?" Vincent said, turning back around and speaking to her in the same calm voice.

Asa had no more energry left in her. She just deflated like so much useless garbage. Laying against the couch she said nothing more. He didn't want her help, he just wanted her to sit there. So she would. Curling up in her towel she turned towards the back of the sofa, wincing as she went. And just pressed her face into her arm. Slowly, she cried herself to sleep.

Once more, Vincent placed his face in one of his hands and uttered a sigh of defeat. He may have had a point in trying to tell her to stay put, but she wanted to help him out. After a moment of thought and deliberation, Vincent slowly walked over to the recliner and sat down in it, trying to think of what Asa would be helpful in without hurting herself too much. Sure, cleaning the carpet sounded reasonable, but he figured it would get to be too much after a while.

He could have her clean out the trunk of the car once he dumped the body somewhere, but she needed to be sitting down on something if this was the case. He then gave a small nod to himself as he began to stand up and gather the necessary cleaning tools. Bleach, carpet cleaner and carpet shampoo as well as a toilet scrubber. While Asa slept, Vincent began to work on the ruined rug, scrubbing, cleaning and spraying as much of the stuff he could get on there before the fumes began to irritate his nostrils, producing a gagging and a coughing fit and opened a few windows in the house to let the place air out. So far, he almost got all of the blood off of the carpet, save for a few specks of red here and there as well as on the wall.

After a little while, Vincent then walked over to Asa and gave her a gentle nudge on the shoulder. "Hey, Asa... Wake up, hun. I may have something for you to do, but only if you're sure you feel up to it." He spoke in a soft voice.

His gentle nudging brought her awake, and she murmered sleepily as she woke. There were rings around her eyes and tear tracks down her cheeks, but at the mention of helping she made her tired body get up, though with a little wobble, before looking up at Vincent for a moment before her eyes fluttered down again, to look at their feet. "I'd like to help Vincent. Show me how."

Slowly she tied the towel around her chest so she didn't have to hold it, and she looked up at Vincent. Even wounded as badly as she was, her deep feelings of responsiblity wouldn't allow her to back out of this chance to help. Even if the cost to her health was relitivly high.

"Well, I first gotta get rid of the dead body that's in the trunk of the Carrera GT. After I ditch the body somewhere far off, I'm gonna need your help in cleaning the trunk out. Now, I already got what we'll need to clean it out. Bleach, cleaner and shampoo and for the sake of the arguement, two scrubbers. I'll clean out one side of the trunk while you work on the other." Vincent said. "That sound like a good deal to you?" He then asked with a smile.

Asa nodded and looked up at him. "Can I please have some new clothes? And... do I have to go.... dump the um... body?" Her voice was shaky. She swallowed hard, Asa didn't want to see the man who had locked her under the stairs and shot her. But if Vincent made her she would go. Asa needed to ease the guilt of responsability that rested on her chest. Only then could she sleep and not feel horrible about doing so.

Wiping her eyes she clasped her hands in front of her and waited to see if he would grant her request. She almost felt like they were back to the time where he ordered and she obeyed, because she was too frightened to do anything other then that.

"Yeah, you might wanna get some new clothes on before you come along. I mean, not for nothing, but having an injured woman in the passenger seat of a vehicle with a day-old dead body in the trunk might be a little suspicious, if you know what I mean." Vincent answered, his eyebrows lifting upwards slightly as he spoke, somehow wanting to laugh at the notion.

"But yeah, go on ahead and get yourself dressed, Asa. We gotta lotta work to do from here on til about tonight. Besides, I don't like a messy house." He concluded as he slowly stood up.

As they hadn't managed to go clothes shopping, and he had never given her anything except the shirt and shirt of yesterday, Asa looked at him for a moment confused. Swallowing hard she nodded and moved to the bathroom where she donned her blood stained clothes. Outside of her ripped up nightgown that she had worn when she first came here she had nothing else to wear, and no other choice. Holding her side tenderly, still in a great amount of pain, she dressed and came back out to help Vincent, even though she hadn't wanted anything to do with the body. But he wanted her to go.

Quiet like normal, she went to the door and waited for Vincent so that they would both go to the car. She wasn't going to make the mistkae of opening the front door by herself so soon after her most recient attack.

Vincent gawked at the sight of the ruined clothes she put back on before slapping his hand over his face.

"No, no, no... This isn't going to work..." He muttered. "Then again, it has to. There's nothing around here that's your size." He spoke again after a little thought.

"Anyways, we're not gonna be out there long. We're going to a secret place to bury that body and get back here to get that rig cleaned out. Besides, last thing I need to be caught with is a body molting away in the trunk." He said, gesturing to the garage.

With that said, he then headed to the bedroom to slip out of the vest he wore and came back out wearing one of his sleeveless shirts.

"You gonna be OK with this, Asa?" He asked, despite there was a look he saw on her face that seemed rather dejected. Vincent then walked over to Asa and gently placed a hand on her shoulder, patting it gently.

"Hey. It's gonna be OK, now. If there was anymore like this no-talent hack, I'll make sure that this doesn't happen again, alright?" He asked softly while looking into her eyes. "Just trust me. Everything's alright." He added.

Her eyes went to his for a moment. "If you say so Vincent. I just don't beleive it anymore. Too many people are attempting my capture. One of us is going to get ourselves killed."

Running a hand through her hair she winced. "Lets go. I'm not feeling very good, I don't know why. But I don't want to be out there for very long, things are lurking in the dark Vincent, things that are going to eventually get me."

Looking down at her bloody clothes, and then over to Vincent's bloody body. "I just want to hurry home. Maybe sleep in your bed.... if that would be ok? I know it's yours but... its much softer then the couch. And we shared it once before and you didn't seem to mind."