"Yes, what I need to do," Lee repeated. "I knew I had to even before he called. Your picture's all over the front of the paper, you know."

As she stood there siphoning, Lee couldn't help but wonder how Rupert had called her. Yes, he had said that he got Rachael's number from Robert, but he hadn't been any more specific than that. How had he gotten Robert's number, though, and what had he said to get Robert to give Rachael's number out?

This was going easy, though. Almost too easy, Lee couldn't help but think. For the first few minutes while she had her hand on Tarin's neck, the energy flowing through the touch, he just sat there in the chair with his eyes closed, not fighting, not complaining, nothing.

Lee was starting to wonder if Tarin was already out despite the amount of energy she was still feeling from him, when he finally turned his head to look up at her. What she saw in his eyes there made Lee swallow, and she was suddenly glad she had let her hair grow, that it was now partially covering her face as she looked down at Tarin. Even if it hadn't been the entire time she was in the apartment, the person talking to her now could be no one other than Tarin, she knew, and Lee couldn't help the twitch of her thumb running gently up his neck when she heard him say she was the best thing in his life.

This is why Lee originally hadn't wanted to see Tarin again, though. She knew that he hadn't wanted her to leave, and with everything he was saying, it was just going to make things that much more difficult for her later, that much more painful. And, after going for so long without really touching anyone, she was doing this to him. Lee could see him fading, could see Tarin starting to pass out even as he fought against it, slumping in the chair, head drooping. At least she wouldn't have to keep it up much longer.

Five minutes later, Lee was sure Tarin was passed out, and she was over at the kitchen sink washing the blood off her hand. A couple glances over her shoulder, followed by a sigh when she was finished. She couldn't leave Tarin like that, she just couldn't.

A quick trip to the linen closet to grab an old towel, and Lee was back, pulling the barbs from the taser out, cutting Tarin's ruined t-shirt off - she wasn't about to uncuff him to take it off properly - removing the blood soaked and crusted jeans, leaving him in just his boxers. Well, it's not like she hadn't seen that many other times...

Then Lee was pulling the chair closer to the sink, running the water, and starting to wipe and wash the blood off.

----------

It had taken quite a while to get all the blood off Tarin, which had resulted in quite a bit of the bloody water ending up an Lee. So she had decided to change. Unfortunately, she knew she didn't exactly have any clothing left in the apartment, she had been far too thorough for that when she moved out, so she had made her way to Tarin's room to grab a pair of shorts and t-shirt for herself.

And ended up running for the bathroom before she was sick.

She honestly hadn't thought about where all the blood covering Tarin had come from. Things just kind of happened when he was merged, and she'd already cleaned blood and glass up after one merge. Still, even if she had thought about it, Lee never would have expected the scene she came across in the bedroom.

Now, cleaning that up was a task and a half, and required a number of runs into the bathroom.

Finally, Lee had it at least somewhat clean. The mattress was completely ruined, and a whole can of air freshener barely covered the smell, but at least there weren't any more pools of blood around the room.

Grabbing the clothing that had been her original reason for entering the room, Lee closed the door and proceeded to have a shower. But then she was left with nothing to do while she waited for Tarin to wake up. At least the cleaning, and runs to the bathroom while cleaning, had used a decent portion of the energy she had siphoned. And so she sat, her arms resting on the back of one of the kitchen chairs, her chin resting on her hands, sometimes looking at Tarin, sometimes looking around the apartment, her right leg bouncing and shaking from the effort of actually keeping still, as she tried not to think.

It hadn't taken much longer, and Lee hadn't responded to what he'd said but Tarin knew she'd heard him. It was just how things were going to have to be, Lee was still convinced she knew better than he did, so Tarin was going to have to convince her otherwise. Her face swam as he looked up at her and then his head drooped, and everything went dark.

He never dreamed when Lee ended up having to take energy from him like this. It wasn't like sleeping, it was more like simply ceasing to function. Tarin didn't know how long he'd been out, but he knew as soon as his eyes started to flutter and he slowly became aware of his surroundings that everything wasn't right, not yet.

Do you think I'm making empty promises? I'm not leaving...I've got too much work to do...that bitch isn't taking me anywhere. I've finally managed to start my great work again...there's nothing you can do short of killing yourself...

Tarin ignored him...he was sick and tired of people getting into his head, sick and tired of people invading his thoughts and even managing to take over his body. Making him do horrible things, terrible things that he would never forget...never get over. He'd lost Lee once over it, he'd lost her again because of something else, but this sure as hell wasn't going to help things.

Tarin's eyes opened slowly and he blinked at the light in the apartment, his head was absolutely pounding and as he picked up his head he groaned at the pain and nausea that rolled over him. It was colder in the apartment than Tarin remembered and as his head rolled slightly and he tried to claw back to consciousness he realized something. He'd apparently taken all of his clothes off.

With the realization, Tarin's head jerked up and he tried to stand, thinking that somehow the spirit must have taken over again. It didn't work too well because his hands were still cuffed in the chair, all at once he overbalanced and crashed to the floor, landing hard on his shoulder.

"God damn it." he said, wheezing as the breath was knocked out of him. But he was really relieved...really relieved, this meant he hadn't taken his own clothes off...and as he laid on the floor, Tarin couldn't help but ask himself the question...who had? Tarin couldn't help laughing, laughing harder than he'd laughed in ages, "Oh Lee..." he said, trying to catch his breath, "There were way easier ways to get me down to my boxers honey." He craned his neck, then groaned at how that made his head throb again. "A little help? I don't think we've done the trick yet."

Lee had never really liked these situations, where Tarin was passed out sleeping and she was up for hours with no hope of sleeping herself. But this was worse than all those normal nights she had been up because they had had too much contact. She had to sit there, not wanting to think about what she had seen so far in the apartment, what she had done to Tarin, yet at the same time not willing to leave until she knew the spirit was gone.

So she sat there, focusing on her powers, feeling the energy entering her body, but trying not to take any more than she absolutely had to. Every so often, Lee felt a little blip of energy, not much, and if she wasn't paying attention, she didn't think she'd have ever felt it otherwise, that must have been someone in the next apartment or passing in the hallway. And, gradually, Lee felt the flow of energy from Tarin growing stronger. He must have been getting it back as he sat there in the chair.

Lee was staring at the refrigerator absently, wondering if she was actually lucky enough that there would be any food in there when Tarin woke up, so she didn't see his eyes first open, didn't see his shocked expression when he realized his lack of clothing. Lee did realize Tarin's return to consciousness about the time he started trying to stand up, and before he had hit the floor, having not realized he was still cuffed to the chair, Lee was on her own feet, looking over at Tarin.

But once Tarin's shoulder hit the kitchen floor, he didn't move, didn't try to get up, didn't try to come after her, so Lee let her tense stance relax slightly. All Tarin did at first, as he seemed to be trying to get his breath back from the fall, was start laughing.

Lee blinked. What the hell was Tarin doing joking around with her? Sure, that's what they always did do, but not now. Right?

"If all I wanted was to get your pants off, I would have last night," Lee replied, then blinked again in surprise, unable to tell herself whether her comment had been a joke or another jab over what she had seen at the bar the previous night.

Rather than dwell on that thought, or the related thoughts that sprang up, Lee moved forward and knelt down beside Tarin, but paused just before she reached out to help him back to an upright position. Her head cocked to the side, she sat there and focused on what she was feeling for a moment. She knew how much energy she had taken from him, so how was she feeling the flow so strong now, as if he had that much energy back already?

The tiniest hint of a smile curling one corner of her mouth, Lee finally reached out her hands, gripping Tarin's arm with one and the chair with the other, and helping him back up. "No, we haven't yet, have we?" She asked in return. If she was right, Lee thought she had just found that very safeguard Tarin had been so desperate for so many months to find.

"So what happened to your head?" Lee asked, leaving her hands on Tarin's shoulders as she started to siphon from him again. "Doesn't look too pretty, but at least the cut's smaller than last time." Then Lee paused as she debated whether to ask the next question. The fact was, even with everything that had happened between them, she couldn't actually be cruel to Tarin. "Did you want me to grab some ice for it while you're out this time?"

Well, at least she didn't seem quite so pissed off by this point. Lee made her way over and Tarin almost laughed again as he saw what she was wearing, then realization dawned on him as he noticed the lack of blood. "Oh Lee...you didn't have to do that..." he said, frowning now, scowling as Lee helped him up, then frowning more at her comment.

"I'd have rather it been you..." he said softly, "You might have stood a chance." The tone was slightly different now, but Lee seemed mellow, comfortable so it was easier for Tarin to relax. She even smiled slightly at him, it made the vice in his chest cavity tighten a little bit but he smiled back slightly.

Her hands fell on his shoulders and Tarin couldn't hold back the goosebumps that rose on his arms and chest, even if Lee wasn't his anymore, she was still Lee...and it still felt so good for her to touch him, even if her task was slightly grim.

She kept her hands there as she asked him about the cut on his head and Tarin shook his head, chuckling slightly, "It's not from the spirit...that...and the one on my face are courtesy of Rupert."

She offered him ice...she did still care...Tarin knew she still cared. Looking up at her as she held her hands on his shoulders, Tarin smiled slightly, feeling the energy flow from him and he leaned his head to the side and against Lee's forearm.

The energy was flowing faster now, maybe since she'd taken so much earlier and Tarin found it harder and harder to block out the goading of the spirit. For the first time in a situation like this, he was actually scared, "Don't leave me when it's over?" he said, turning his head to look at her again.

Lee saw Tarin frown as she leaned over him, then heard his voice telling her she hadn't needed to clean up. Just like every other time he had told her she didn't need to clean up when she was stuck wide awake with a ton of energy and he was passed out.

"So I was supposed to sit here and look at you covered in blood?" Lee asked softly. That was not going to happen, especially not when she had known she was going to be there doing just that for hours. "And I couldn't just leave your room like that when I went to find something to change into..." Lee couldn't help the slight shudder that coursed through her body as she remembered the scene she had found when she entered Tarin's bedroom.

Tarin's response to her comment about the previous night caused Lee to shudder as her mind drifted back to his bedroom again. All that blood, all that mess...if she hadn't been so upset to have seen him, so determined, could that have been her? If she hadn't left in the first place, could that have been her as soon as the spirit had merged with him? Lee couldn't help but shudder again as she tried to force those thoughts out of her mind. She had a weapon now, well, at least another one. She could feel the extra energy in Tarin, energy she was pretty sure was coming from the spirit. She could feel it, could watch for it.

Then Tarin was explaining that the injuries to the back of his head, and his face, were courtesy of Rupert, and Lee shook her head. That sounded like the Rupert she knew, the hypocrite. Walk into the apartment of a murderer, and rather than shoot him or take him into custody, he cuffed him to a chair, hit him in the back of the head, and called another mutant and the murderer's ex, to deal with the problem instead. "Guess I'm lucky he decided he didn't have to hit me before putting his gun away when he drew it on me, then," Lee murmured as she continued to siphon from Tarin.

Lee didn't fail to notice that Tarin didn't actually answer her question about the ice. Instead, he just leaned his head against her arm and looked up at her. Something that would have been perfectly normal a couple months ago, something that now had a touch of awkwardness combined with the familiarity.

Then Tarin spoke again, and Lee glanced down at him, seeing him looking up at her with his head leaning against her arm, hearing the almost desperation in his voice.

Lee raised an eyebrow as she looked down at Tarin. "You think I'm going to go through all this and just disappear?" She asked quietly. "Stop worrying and fight."

She'd seen the room...not only had she seen the room, she'd cleaned the room. Tarin couldn't hide the horrified look on his face at the realization that Lee had to have known exactly what he'd done. She was repulsed, didn't bother hiding the shudder that ran through her and Tarin's face fell even further.

Her reaction to his comment about being able to fight back effected Lee too, and Tarin couldn't help but think he was glad it hadn't been her. It was a horrible thought and Tarin almost instantly damned himself for thinking it, but he was glad it hadn't been Lee. Something could have gone wrong...then it would have been Lee's blood on his hands.

Lee moved on, talked about Rupert...he'd pulled a gun on her too? Tarin shook his head slowly, "That damn man is a contradiction...."

Now he was fading fast, exhaustion slipping over him like a warm blanket, and as he looked up at Lee she promised him what he needed from her. With a slight smile on his face is head drooped and fell to the side. Completely exhausted.

Tarin was gone now, beyond asleep in a near coma of exhaustion and John Erik knew this was his chance...his last chance...but he didn't forget patience. He'd have to be careful...trick the woman, kill her, and get away. He'd waited so long for this moment, so long for his sweet revenge on the woman who had spoiled his first return to glory.

So he waited....waited a few hours, aware of the woman in the room, restless in her inability not to sleep. She was watching, waiting to find out if her powers had done their job this time. Fine...let her think they had.

It was an hour after that when John Erik decided it was time and he slipped seamlessly into control of the medium's body. A low groan issued from the man who appeared to be sitting in the chair and his head lolled from side to side as he struggled to hold it up.

The medium was exhausted, but John Erik was strong...he felt strong and vital, that was the sticking point. He'd have to attack, and attack quickly to have a chance at the woman.

"Lee..." he said, in the medium's voice, "You can uncuff me now...it worked...he's gone."

Tarin looked upset, really upset, about the fact that she had cleaned while he had been passed out. He looked at her like she was supposed to have let him sit there crusted in blood, like she was supposed to just close the door to his bedroom and pretend nothing unusual was there.

"Really, Tarin," Lee said, her voice quiet, even though he hadn't said anything else about her cleaning. "I thought you knew me better than that. You might not like it, but I had to do something..."

Lee could tell Tarin was going again. He couldn't have had all that much energy to start with, probably just more than enough that he had been able to wake up, and she was purposely and consciously taking more at this point. No, it really wasn't a surprise that he appeared to be ready to pass out again already. But his comment about Rupert caused Lee to smile, despite everything else that was going on.

"A contradiction?" Lee asked, giving a slight shake of her head, the smile still on her face. "You're telling me. I didn't know it was possible to contradict yourself so much till I heard him talk."

Lee wasn't sure whether Tarin had even heard her whole comment, though, because his head drooped and he slumped further in his chair, passed out once again. But Lee stayed where she was, still siphoning. she had to make sure he was out, knew she had to take more energy to try and make sure the spirit didn't have enough to hang on to, but with each second that ticked by, Lee's worry and fear grew that she was taking too much.

Finally, her worry and fear overwhelmed her need to make sure she had taken enough, and Lee pulled back, stepped away from Tarin. He was out, surely she had taken enough, hopefully she hadn't taken too much energy again.

But the hours seemed to tick by even slower this time. Maybe it was because she had even more energy now, maybe it was because she had even less to do, less of an outlet for that energy, but Lee found time to be dragging slower than she ever remembered it doing. She raided the fridge, actually managing to find some left over takeout that didn't look like it had been there too long, but really, eating didn't take all that long. And Lee called Rachael at one point, assuring her sister that she was fine, and reiterating (a few times) that she should not come over herself. That did take some time, but still not more than 20 minutes, and really, what was 20 minutes when you had literal hours to kill?

That gave Lee lots of time to think. Time to realize that, even if he hadn't shown himself yet, the spirit would likely grow desperate at some point with all the energy she was taking from Tarin, all the energy she was denying the spirit from being able to use. Even if this spirit seemed more rational, in a sick twisted way, or at least more patient, Lee figured it would try and act at some point. And she'd be ready for that. It wasn't like she was going to be caught sleeping, at least not any time soon, and as far as she knew, she was able to feel the spirit's presence through it's energy, which gave her the advantage because neither Tarin nor the spirit knew about that.

Lee had finally ended up dragging the foldable treadmill out of the corner, the treadmill they had bought for her months ago so she had been able to expel excess energy after the Registration Act had been passed out of a combination of extreme boredom and a desire to get rid of at least some of the energy she had. So Lee had moved the treadmill, setting it up in a spot where she could still keep an eye on Tarin, and started running.

She had been running for about an hour when Lee heard a groan coming from Tarin. Coming to a stop, Lee stepped off the treadmill and made her way over to Tarin as he started trying to lift his head, the whole time focusing on what she was feeling energy-wise: how much she had as well as how much she felt flowing into her from him. He looked barely conscious, yet she was feeling a decent, steady stream of energy, and no one else was anywhere close.

"It's really gone?" she asked, coming to a stop beside Tarin. "It really worked?" Seeing Tarin nod, Lee took a step closer. She knew she had to be careful; if she wasn't hesitant enough, or if she was too hesitant, this wouldn't work, she knew. "You're sure?" She questioned again.

Only when she got another affirmative answer did Lee step forward again, making her way around behind Tarin. the whole time she had been in the apartment that day, she hadn't seen anything that even remotely resembled a key to a pair of handcuffs. But she had all this energy, it couldn't really be too hard. Crouching down behind the chair, Lee worked at one of the links connecting the too cuffs, finally managing to pry it open. Now, getting the cuffs themselves off Tarin's wrists, that would probably be more difficult, but at least now his hands were free. All she had to do now was be on constant guard without appearing to be.

Tarin was nowhere to be found, John Erik was thrilled by the turn that the situation had taken. The medium was almost completely gone, his consciousness tucked safely away in a corner of his mind while John Erik prepared to wreak the havoc that he'd waited so long and so patiently for.

It couldn't be said that the woman bought his words hook, line, and sinker, but she definitely took what he said seriously and before he knew what was happening, the woman was moving behind him and simply breaking the cuffs.

John Erik realized he was simply outmatched in physical strength, and that he was going to have to do something to make sure that the woman couldn't fight back. Using the cuffs would have been ideal, restraining the woman so he could play would have been perfection incarnate, but she'd already proven that simple cuffs couldn't hold her.

So he tried patience again, but the patience was wearing thin. He wanted her, she was so powerful, she'd bring him so much closer to his ultimate goal.

Pulling his arms around in front of him in a semblance of stretching the sore muscles in his shoulders, John Erik stood and walked as far away from her as the small apartment would allow.

"So you cleaned the mess up all by yourself..." he said, tilting his head to the side to observe her from afar. It was no wonder the medium was so attached to her. The woman really was magnificent, his hands positively itched to go to work on her. An idea occurred to John Erik though and he smiled slightly as he made his way back towards Lee, perhaps he could kill two birds with one stone...figuratively and literally.

"I think you ought to do it again...just to be sure." he said, nearly breathless with excitement, "I want to be positive he's gone.." Perhaps the mediums consciousness could be drained away completely, perhaps this body could be his and he could destroy the woman while she was distracged by her task. It was too perfect.

Lee stood up and took a step back as she saw Tarin moving once the cuffs were separated. He stretched, he stood, and then he walked to the other side of the apartment, the whole time Lee watched him carefully. He was loose now, she had to be on guard.

Having reached the other side of the apartment, Lee saw Tarin turn to look at her, his head tilted to one side, as he asked about her cleaning the apartment all by herself. "Yeah, I cleaned up all on my own," Lee said again. Hadn't she told him that already, hadn't Tarin gotten upset about that fact? "It's not like there was anyone to help me. It all still needs dealt with, and you definitely need a new bed, but it's at least mopped up and in garbage bags and stuff now."

But then Lee saw a small smile come over Tarin's face as he started back toward her. Not exactly what she would have expected from him, but Lee already knew that the spirit was still around, so it shouldn't have been all that surprised by the weirdness of the smile.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Lee agreed with Tarin's suggestion hey make sure the spirit was gone. But rather than moving closer once again, Lee turned toward the fridge, paying extra attention to the energy she felt from Tarin. She needed to know exactly where he was, after all, down to the inch, if possible. "Are you sure you don't want something to eat or drink first?" She asked, her back still turned to him. "You have been out for quite a while now."

He was coming up to her now, he could really look at her and the excitement building inside of him started to bubble over. It really didn't matter if she decided she wanted to drain him even more, he was strong, vital. It was the medium that was weak and hurt and going to suffer "Hey...at least I dealt with the really messy part..." he said, a broad smile curling across his features. A smile she couldn't see because she'd turned her back on him. She was so close.

"I don't know if you'd have had the stomach for that, I got a little carried away this time. I was so excited and we were playing so well together." Well, there was something to be said for laying the cards out on the table. She was so close, John Erik reached out a hand, ignoring what the woman said about food and letting his fingers barely touch her hair. Then again, this time delving deep into the mass of curls, wrapping it in his hand and wrenching her backwards. She was strong, but with a hand full of hair he would hopefully have the upper hand long enough to overcome her.

"Just lay down and give up." He said, coming up to speak directly into her ear, "Just like he did...you're who made it so easy you know. He was completely broken, no resistance or self preservation left. It was so easy to slip in with his guard so battered down like that. You deserve my thanks..and you'll get it in the form of the honor of being my most beautiful work of art yet."

He was coming closer, Lee could feel that even a she could hear his voice growing ever so slightly louder as the distance shrank. Just a tiny bit closer, Lee thought to herself, and then she heard what he was saying, heard him say that at least he had taken care of the really messy part, and Lee couldn't stop the slight shiver that ran through her body. Despite all the blood she had seen in there, despite all the blood she had cleaned up, she had been doing a damn good job of not thinking about the fact that it came from a body.

Then he continued, and if Lee had had any doubts about whether the spirit was there, about whether the spirit was in control, those words would have shattered that hope. Tarin had been disgusted and horrified just at the thought that she had seen the blood. This time, Lee could heard the smile in the voice as he talked about getting carried away as he had 'played' the previous night. He was so close, but Lee was distracted enough by his blatant bragging about the previous night that she didn't even feel it when he lightly touched her hair the first time.

The second time, now that was a different story. As she felt the hand closing in her hair and pulling her backward, slightly off balance, Lee's eyes widened in panic. It only took a moment after she was pulled back against his body, right where she had expected it to be, and heard him starting to whisper in her ear, for Lee to realize her mistake; she had been paying attention to where he was based on his energy, and that seemed to have worked, except for the fact that his hand can reach further out from the body. Lee hadn't thought about that, hadn't been trying to feel for that.

And now she was being held by the hair.

"I've never just given up before," Lee replied angrily over her shoulder. Testing how much room she had to move, she winced as she felt the hair pull. "What makes you think you're so special to get me to start now?"

But beyond her brave words, Lee was shocked to hear him thank her for Tarin's condition, saying what she had did had made it that much easier for him, and that horrified her even more than his talk about what he was planning for her.

It was all her fault, everything was. If she had at least of listened, really listened, for a minute, she never would have ran out of the shop after she saw that woman kissing him, so never would have been caught by the Stalker. If she had never been caught, he never would have felt the need to come get her out, so they wouldn't have merged and she wouldn't have almost killed him. And if she hadn't of left after all of that, he would never have been in this situation, with this monster in his head. It was all her fault.

"You're a monster," Lee hissed. She couldn't give up, just couldn't; especially after everything else she had already done to Tarin, that would completely destroy him. "It's not surprising you have to use Tarin. I don't know how you ever got close enough to any woman yourself." With that, Lee stepped to the side slightly, trying to ignore the pain that caused in her scalp, and slammed her elbow backward.

He had her, John Erik wanted to crow with delight, yell it to the rooftops that he'd won. Wanted to celebrate, but more than anything he wanted to get to work. There was nothing to be gained by keeping the woman alive. He wasn't a monster to toyed with his prey before death. No, that part was quick, it was after...after when he liked to play, working towards his master piece.

It seemed that even though her strength was superior, leverage definitely counted for something. More importantly he'd gotten inside of her head, tapped into powerful emotions that were going to make it harder to reason...harder to fight.

"I am a monster." he said in her ear in response to Lee's hissed epitaph, "and more. You're part of it now...you're going to be my masterpiece..." As he talked he moved, dragging the woman towards the kitchen...he had no weapons. His hand tightened in her hair and he growled at her continued insults.

"It doesn't matter does it? I did well enough on my own...but I will agree that there are some advantages to this weaker body. I don't intimidate, and if he continues to provide me with such prime and easy subjects there won't be a thing to worry about."

She twisted, the woman obviously had high pain tolerance, because John Erik felt hair pulling from her scalp as she turned and he didn't move nearly in time to avoid the elbow that rammed into his rib cage with more force than should have been possible for the woman to create.

Pain surged through his ribs and John Erik doubled, but refused to relinquish his hold on the woman's hair. Let her fight, maybe he would play with this one a little before she died...because if there was one thing he was counting on it was that she wouldn't damage this body beyond repair.

"Hit me again..come on...do it!" he laughed through clenched teeth. So he dies...what do I care woman? You've already taken him away almost completely...fight me then and let's see what happens."

Lee shuddered when she heard the whispered agreement that he was a monster, felt the breath on her ear. She didn't want Tarin that close to her, but Lee knew that this wasn't Tarin; especially with what he was saying, his tone, the hand pulling her hair, there was no way she could possibly mistake this person for Tarin.

And then she was being dragged, backwards, sideways, further into the kitchen toward the drawers. It was hard keeping her balance, and it hurt with how she was being pulled by the hair, but the only other choice Lee had was to lose her footing, fall to the floor, and have her hair ripped out.

"Don't worry," Lee replied through gritted teeth. "It won't be so easy once I'm done with you." She fully meant it. One way or another, this monster was not going to have an easy time of anything. The best case scenario would be that Lee got rid of the spirit all together. If that didn't work, if things went really bad, well, one of them wouldn't be around any more, and that would pretty much solve all the problems, wouldn't it?

Her elbow worked. Well, it did and it didn't. Lee could tell that it hurt him, he doubled up and grunted, but he didn't let go of her hair. He wanted her to hit him again? He wanted her to fight him?

It was then that Lee realized she hadn't started siphoning as much as she could, only her normal amount, so she concentrated, at least as best she could given the pain in her scalp. "He wants me to do this," Lee pointed out as she thrust her other elbow back toward him. Hopefully that would get him to let go. "He's the one who got me the taser cause I refused to use a real gun on him."

He was almost there, he could almost reach the drawer which he'd discovered held knives. That was all he needed. For all her strength and speed, she was a woman like all other women in the world and she would bleed when cut. She would bleed a lot.

"Maybe I'll let him wake up one more time...." John Erik said, hand tightening in her hair once more as he wheezed with the pain in his ribs from the elbow she'd thrown. "Let him see what I've done...let him know that he's got your blood on his hands...it'll be enough. You have no idea what kind of guilt he already feels."

The woman was still jabbering, talking about how he'd wanted her to use a real gun on him. John Erik simply laughed, "If you destroy this body, I'll simply find another one, then another, and another. I'm going to complete my work."

He could reach now, John Erik reached out to open the drawer and the whole thing came out of the cabinet with the woman's struggles against him. Forks, knives, and spoons scattered over the floor and he cursed and bent to find a weapon just as the woman swung her other elbow. Elbow connected with face and John Erik wailed in pain, the shock of the impact causing him to release the hold he had in Lee's hair as the dropped to the ground.

The pain was intense but his hatred and anger was far more intense. Weapons at hand, John Erik scrabbled around in the utensils on the floor almost unaware of the small cuts opening on his hands as he grabbed for a knife. This had to end quickly, he'd lost his biggest upper hand when he'd lost the leverage her hair had given him.

Lee swallowed hard when he mentioned the idea of letting Tarin 'wake up' once more to let him see what was happening, what he was doing to her, so he could feel that guilt too. But he had tightened his hand in her hair, pulling harder, and Lee couldn't open her mouth to speak at that point, her teeth were clenched in pain too tightly.

At least once he reached the drawers, and pulled one out, it came too far and clattered to the floor. That was one good thing about an older apartment, things weren't always in perfect condition, and they often had little quirks, such as falling out when pulled too sharply.

And then her elbow was perfectly timed and aimed, since it landed straight in his face as he bent over to grab a knife off the floor. Good news: he let go of her hair finally. Bad news: it caused him to land on the floor, closer to array of knives.

"Oh no you don't," Lee growled, moving toward Tarin once more. She was done with this, no more games. Things were coming to an end, one way or another. Reaching down, Lee wrapped her right hand around his throat and lifted. Then she was moving, quickly, not holding anything back at this point, only stopping when she felt Tarin's back hitting the wall.

"It's over," Lee hissed, tears creeping into her eyes again, leaning close as she tightened her grip ever so slightly. The amount of energy she felt flowing into her was unbelievable, unprecedented. "Even if it ki-" Lee's voice cracked, unable to actually say the word. "You're done," she continued, bypassing her first failed comment. "It doesn't matter how, but I'm taking you out."