Has to get Worse to Get Better (Paul)

[Tess Echo]

Tess had a couple hours before her date with Paul. That was probably the only upside to the day. Her boss had yelled at her, she ruined her favorite shirt and now she was walking in jeans and her ring girl top. "Can it get any worse than this?"

Words that escaped her mouth came back to bite her in the ass it seemed...

Five guys with knives walked towards her and she clutched her purse closer. "Damn it." Two were on each side and one was on the front. "Well, well...looks like someone came down the wrong alley at the wrong time, wouldn't you say, boys?" The other four nodded and laughed.

Tess backed up until she was against the wall. "What do you want?" she asked them in a shaky voice. She looked at the one in the middle, figuring he was the leader. He said, "We want your purse and we want to make sure you remember nothing of this...and probably forget more in the process...." The way he said it really really freaked her out...

The man motioned to a guy on the left and a guy on the right. They grabbed her arm on each side and threw her against the wall. She grunted. The other two grabbed at her purse. The leader glared at the younger looking one and jerked his head towards her. The younger one looked at him pleadingly. "You'll get your chance, Dan. Patience."

Tess struggled against the two men that were holding her. The leader walked up to her, grinned with a sick look in his face, and stared into her eyes, traumatizing her. His hand reached out towards her hip, rubbing up her side in a sexual manner. Then his hand went behind her neck, almost as if he was about to kiss her and she tried pulling away, tears streaming down her face. She didn't make a sound because if someone heard her, they might be the one in this situation, and she wouldn't wish this on her worst enemy.

The leader grinned again and kneed her. She went forward, grunting. His fist shot upward, shooting her head back. He grabbed her hair and brought her face back to face him and pulled her closer. The two holding her had to take a step forward. She whimpered....but now, she was frozen from fear...she couldn't fight back.

Then, Tess felt a cut forming on her right arm, seeing Leader with the knife scraping at her skin like he was cutting cheese. "Good...you know better than to scream...it would be a whole lot worse for you if you screamed...but please, go ahead...I'd love to take you somewhere and...take a better look and have a better feel at you..."

Tess understood the innuendo all to well, but she didn't say anything. She only wished that she could be with Paul now....He was on her mind throughout this...She was going to miss him...she knew now that she wouldn't be waking up...


Tess watched hopelessly as Leader threw a punch at her right eye. More tears flowed as her head snapped backwards. Then, Leader turned to Dan and said, "Your turn...have at her."

Dan laughed and pushed her hard against the wall. It was then that she heard a sound down the hall, even as she felt Dan's hand caressing her body. She couldn't hold back anymore. "HELP!!!!!!" Dan slapped her and went back to what he was doing, all thinking it was a bird.His hands traveled from her thigh up her body at her sides....

[Paul Zion]

Today just sucked. He'd spent the day training with his brother, even though Paul knew without a doubt in his mind that he didn't need it. Paul knew he could take any fighter that company threw at him, except maybe Chris.

Actually, that would be a pretty sweet fight...maybe one day... he thought to himself as he walked home, wondering what he'd do for the remaining two hours before he met Tess for their date.

He had his hands stuck in the pockets of his leather jacket. He was tired, sweaty, sore, and not too happy. As he walked, he kicked a rock and it skidded across the ground.

He snapped to when he heard a familiar voice scream for help. He darted down the alley to see Tess in trouble. Quietly, he walked over to the nearest gang member and spun him around. "The he--" was all he could say before Paul's fist landed an uppercut at full strength, snapping the guy's neck on impact.

The man dropped, his face looking like he died looking straight up. "ALRIGHT," he bellowed. "Let her go now, and I might let you scrape outta this alive..."

[Tess Echo]

Tess looked up to see Paul, and more tears came out at seeing him. They were full of relief and happiness. The ones that had held onto her arms let go, and stared at him, wondering who he was and how he could do that. Dan, however, had grabbed her waist, while staring at him and looking at his buddy, the one who had had her purse.

Tess had no energy, and her arms drooped at her sides and she was fighting back a sob. A minute later, it fought its way out. Dan said, "How'd you do that?"

[Paul Zion]

Paul glared when he grabbed her waist. "Guess what? Thanks to your friend, every last one of you die. How'd I do it? Lemme show ya..."

The two guys advanced on him, drawing knives. Paul landed a swift kick to the ribs of one guy, collapsing the ribcage. The other caught a kick to the temple.

He shed his jacket as the leader stepped forward, and Paul wasted no time with a punch to the throat.

Then there was just the guy with Tess. He walked up to the guy and grabbed him by the back of the neck. "Your turn..."

[Tess Echo]

Tess was shaking in the guy's arm as they stood there. It seemed to be a standoff. All of the sudden, she felt Dan push her body away from him and gave her a hard kick in the ribs. She gave one last grunt, and gasped for air.

Dan, meanwhile, tried twisting away and sent an elbow back towards Paul's head.

[Paul Zion]

Paul grabbed the man's elbow and spun him around. "Tough guy, huh? We'll see...." With that, he released Dan's arm and moved so he was behind him and wrapped his arms around his neck in a chokehold. He applied just enough strength to kill the guy slowly, letting him gasp for his every breath. Letting him suffer...

When the man didn't have a breath left in him, Paul tossed him aside and ran to Tess' side. He put his hands on her, healing every wound. He didn't care whether or not she found out about him. He just wanted her to be okay. Aside from his brother, she was the only real friend he had...

[Tess Echo]

Tess could barely get a breath in one minute, and the next she could breathe easily...that wasn't normal. She got up on her hands and knees, and noticed them still shaking. "Damn nerves..." she muttered to herself.

Standing up, she looked at Paul in wonderment. "How...? What? I'm confused."

[Paul Zion]

Paul wrapped his arms around her when she stood up. "I'm so glad you're okay. And...I did it. I...well, you were bound to find out sometime. I have...powers...I guess you can say. I can heal other people, just not myself. I also have superhuman strength and can levitate. I'll explain more later, but right now I'm just happy you're alive..."

His voice trailed off and he leaned back to look into her eyes before pulling her into a deep, passionate kiss.

[Tess Echo]

Tess listened, and when he pulled her into a deep and passionate kiss, and she returned it greedily, also very happy to be there with him now. When they pulled back, instead of freaking out like a human might, she smiled weakly. "I'm sorry...I shouldn't have taken the short cut home..."

Tess leaned into him again and closed her eyes, wrapping her own arms around him, and whispered, barely audible, "I love you."

[Paul Zion]

"I love you too," he said softly. He blinked, surprised at how well she was taking it. "You're okay with me...being like this?" he asked. "I mean....I'm not normal..."

[Tess Echo]

Tess smiled, though gently moved back. She was always afraid of this part, 'normal' or not. "Well, contrary to popular belief...I'm not either..."

[Paul Zion]

He frowned as she moved back. Dammit...I must've screwed up....

"You're...not? Like...in the same manner I am?" he asked. "Ya know, I'll love you no matter what. You can tell me."

[Tess Echo]

Tess took in a breath and slowly let it out. "Well, I know I'm...half-demon...not sure if that's like you...but I have powers. Even without ever hearing it before, after hearing one word, I can speak any language, and...please be aware that I've never used it on you...I can change my personality...."

[Paul Zion]

"I see. Well, mine's a little more complicated," Paul said, pulling her close. "My mom was a human. Dad was a demon. At the time she first got pregnant...Mom was cheating on my Dad with a human. Ended up resulting in twins.

When we were born, the demon killed both humans and sent me and my bro to a foster home, where we grew up and trained to fight. After I discovered my powers, he came to me, told me everything. Tried to get me to join him. Me and Chris kicked his ass right there.

Chris is human, but...whenever I touch him, he temporarily gets my powers, if that makes any sense."

[Tess Echo]

Tess felt relief when he pulled her near him, showing as a sign that he didn't hate her for that personality power. She listened silently as he told his story. "Um...sort of....but that Demon dude is horrible...."

She looked up at him and said, "But we're still here, right? You still love me even though I have that...power?"