The second the front door slammed shut, Xena collapsed to the floor. She laid on her back, just staring up at the ceiling. Her breathing became shallow as her mind worked everything together. She was still processing everything, still trying to figure out what the hell had gone wrong.
The pieces of the puzzle were coming together. Everything was making sense. Seeing Venus that night at the club was when she had killed the club owner and his guards. Hence, the blood on her car seat. She had driven home the very same Assassin she was looking for that day. Venus had murdered people, and then Xena had driven her to safety.
A realization crossed over Xena when she realized that the call from her Boss she had gotten the night before was Richard Mascetti.
Xena closed her eyes to steady herself. It felt like her world was spinning and there was way too much going on. Opening her eyes once again, Venus stood up from the floor and began walking around her room; pacing back and forth in circles as she ran her fingers through her hair, pulling aggressively.
Everything was too much. She was trying to process it, struggling to lay it out in order in her mind, but it was proving extremely difficult.
A tear escaped from Xena's eye, then another, then another. Soon, there was a constant stream down her face. Xena crouched down to the floor. Her back was up against the wall in the same position she had been standing as she cried. It was a full on sob. The noises coming from Xena's mouth filled the room, almost echoing and bouncing off the walls. She had never felt so much pain in her life.
She had fallen for an Assassin: a cold-blooded killer. She was an Agent, and she had fallen for an Assassin.
Xena felt betrayed, deceived. She felt incompetent. She should have figured it out earlier on. She was a fucking Assassin for Christ's sake.
Pulling her knees up to her chest Xena bent her head over, her fingers were still entwined in her hair pulling forcefully. Her cries had not ceased, they were still coming out strong. Everything was spinning, everything that Xena had envisioned was falling apart.
She was conflicted. How could somebody like Venus be a killer? She was so innocent, so fragile looking. Venus had always felt this desire to protect her, but now it was clear to Xena that she was more than capable of protecting herself. A bitter laugh escaped from Xena's throat amidst her sobs.
A faint memory popped up in Xena's mind. It was of the first time she had ever encountered Venus at the bar. She remembered Venus telling her that she killed people when she asked her what she did for a living. Xena had laughed then, thinking she had just been cracking a joke.
The reality of the situation was so ironic. It almost felt like the plot for a badly written story, but that wasn't the case. This was real life, and it was happening right in front of Xena. This was her reality.
For a few moments Xena just remained in her position, crouched against the wall, staring at the room in front of her. She looked at her bed, the bed where Venus had been lying beneath her just a few moments ago. The bed, where the smaller woman had been moaning softly beneath her, had been on the verge of panting her name. Xena felt herself grow wet, and it instantly filled her with disgust.
She was having sexual fantasies about a killer.
Xena averted her eyes, staring at her shirt that was thrown haphazardly on the floor. Getting up slowly, she pulled it back over her head before sitting on her bed. Xena stared at her room before her as her brain worked so fast. She was trying desperately to figure things out, to make sense out of everything that was going on, but it seemed impossible.
She didn't want to believe it. She desperately didn't want to believe it. But even Venus herself had admitted it, she had said it all to her.
Xena was now in a weird limbo, overcome with emotions that she now felt a wary calm. She had always been so curious about the girl, wanting to know as much as she could about her. Now she did. Venus hated herself for wishing that she never found out. She wished she could continue living the little romantic fantasy they had been in, before she found out that Venus was a fucking killer. Xena wished she could remain oblivious to everything, she wished she wasn't an Agent; she wished her brain had not readily put the pieces together.
Xena swallowed hard as resentment crept within her.
This was somebody that had killed people, taking them away from their loved ones. Yet Xena was reaching out for her, desiring her. She hated herself at that moment.
A single tear rolled down her face, and Xena sniffed slightly.
Rising from her position, Xena made her way out of the room to the kitchen where she poured herself a glass of water. She drank it all down in one go, before pouring herself another glass and following suit. No matter what she did, it did not take away the parched feeling she felt at the back of her throat.
It did not ease her insides, which felt as if they had been set on fire.
This can't be. Xena still remained in heavy denial. Venus couldn't really be an Assassin. She couldn't.
Resting her head against her hand, Xena sobbed once again. Her body shook as the tears coursed through her. She remained in this position for all of five minutes before straightening up.
Xena retrieved her laptop from her work bag before settling down on the living room sofa. The laptop was bulky and felt heavier than usual in her hands, but she didn't pay any attention to that as she quickly typed in her password, logging in.
Xena knew exactly what she was looking for. She had the files containing all the CCTV camera recordings of the places that the different assassinations had occurred. Xena had looked through these recordings multiple times but hadn't seen anything that stood out.
But this time was different, this time she knew exactly what she was looking for. Or rather, who.
The footages Xena looked at first were the ones gathered from the Assassination on the NYU Campus. The first clip was just a regular clip of students walking around campus. Immediately, Xena noticed the Governor's son walking with his two bodyguards. Xena looked around at the other people, squinting slightly. That was when she noticed her, a little distance away from where the victim was: Venus.
She was dressed in a tee and sweatpants with a book bag on her bag. She looked just like your regular college student. It took Xena's breath away just how well she blended in. There was absolutely no way that one would look at her and think there was anything off about her.
After that, Xena looked at the footage taken from the library. She noticed when Venus made her way over to the bookshelf where the Governor's son was standing. Everything about Venus' actions were tactical. She moved as if she were just looking for a book on a shelf. Both the Governor's son and Venus disappeared out of view of the camera.
A few minutes later, Venus appeared back into view, this time with a hoodie thrown over her head as she walked casually towards the exit of the library. It was then that another student discovered the body of the Governor's son, and there was a yell. One of the bodyguards had yelled at Venus to stop, then shot at her. From the angle of the camera, it appeared as if he had missed.
Thinking back to that moment, Xena realized that the bodyguard's bullet had grazed Venus slightly. Hence, why she had a limp for a few days after. This was during the time that Xena had first come over to Venus' apartment. She had helped the girl carry her groceries home due to her limp. Xena felt a pang go through her.
Venus on the other hand had simply been written off as being a student. Nobody, not even the FBI, even suspected her for a moment, hence why nobody bothered to really follow up on her.
Xena closed the video and looked through the other footages of the major Assassination incidents, as far back as she could. In each of them she could see Venus, dressed in different disguises. It was jaw-dropping just how good the girl blended in, how natural she appeared each time. Like she belonged.
After a while it became too much for Xena. She shut the laptop silently and moved it away from her lap. Once again, she was staring blindly ahead of her. Xena swallowed hard, but no matter what she did, she didn't seem to be able to get rid of the bitter taste of the truth at the back of her mouth.
It was clear to her. Irrevocably, without a doubt, Venus was the Assassin the whole of the FBI was after. No matter how hard Xena had tried to prove it wrong, no matter how hard she tried to find something else that proved otherwise, that wasn't the case.
For the umpteenth time, Xena cried.