sorry for the brief pause in operations,
now, back to our regularly scheduled programming...
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Venus had never felt anything that felt this good in her entire life. She had kissed people before, but nothing compared to how it felt kissing Xena. Nothing compared to the feeling. She was enveloped in Xena's warmth, and that was all that mattered. The skin on skin contact between them was driving her crazy, it was taking her to the very edge.

Up till then, the taller woman had been moving softly with Xena. The feel of her hands on her neck made Xena release soft moans. Her body was on fire.

When Xena suddenly flipped her over it was aggressive and knocked the breath out of her. Venus' eyes widened. She didn't realize just how eager Xena was. The thought she drove Xena that crazy filled Venus with bliss.

That was until she no longer felt Xena's weight on her back.

Turning herself back around, Venus came face to face with Xena. Rather, it wasn't really face to face seeing as the taller woman was standing at the far end of the room, her body pressed against the wall.

Venus squinted softly, not understanding what Xena was doing all the way over there. "Is everything okay?" Venus' head was still cloudy from the ecstasy she had been feeling just a few moments ago.

Xena didn't respond. Venus used these few moments of silence to fully clear her head. She got a good look at the taller woman. Xena's eyes were flashing, her eyes were watery, and she was shaking like nothing Venus had never seen before. It was as if the woman had just seen a ghost. Venus' minds began racing. She didn't understand what had happened in just a few moments.

"Xena, are you okay?" Venus asked, repeating her question. She desperately wanted to get up from the bed, wanted to put her arms around Xena, wanted to feel the taller woman's warmth. Rather, something kept her glued to her position on the bed. She didn't dare move.

"Venus, what's your job?"

Xena had silently spoken. Her voice was low, Venus had barely heard the words that came out of her mouth.

"What?"

There were a few moments of silence, during which Venus' mind began spinning. She started questioning herself. Had she misheard the words that came out of Xena's mouth?

"I asked you what your job is." Xena suddenly said. Her voice was louder, but it still held the same tone to it, the tone that Venus couldn't quite place. "What do you do for a living?"

Venus froze then. Her mind was desperately trying to find answers. Why was Xena asking her about that right then? Why did it matter right then? They had been having such an amazing time.

Venus brought her eyes up slowly to meet Xena's and something struck her. Everything became clear to her.

She knew.

Venus could see it in her eyes: in the way that she glared at her. The hardness of the stare.

"Don't even think of lying." Xena said, still maintaining her previous tone. "Whatever job you have must pay you well, you live in an affluent part of The City. Your job doesn't have a fixed schedule, you're always at home when I randomly show up to your apartment."

There was a silence. It was thick; it hung in the air heavy.

"I am asking you again one last time, Venus. What. Is. Your. Job?"

Right then and there, Venus felt numb. She knew there was no point lying about it, Xena knew. She didn't know how the hell she did. But yet, somehow she did.

"My job-" Venus' voice trailed off. She cleared her throat. "I am an Assassin for Richard Mascetti, I kill people at his command."

Venus wished she could look away, she couldn't. Her eyes were glued to the woman before her.

She watched Xena as she went through the motions. First her eyes bulged open, such a shocked expression crossed over her face. Venus knew that even though she already knew it, hearing her admit it was something else. For a moment, she was certain that Xena would pass out. Then, almost immediately, Xena seemed to gain back control of her facial features. They came back together, and she now wore an unrecognisable expression on her face.

It sent a slight shiver through Venus, and at that moment she was aware of the fact that she was still shirtless. They both wore. A realization dawned over her that what they had previously been about to do was never going to happen.

"You kill people." Xena abruptly said. Her voice was hard. "You kill people in cold blood. You're the notorious Assassin, codename: 'V'"

Venus was shocked with how much Xena seemed to know about her as an Assassin. She gulped hard, staring at the woman in front of her unblinkingly. She didn't know what to say. She was feeling so many things at the moment that she ultimately couldn't really feel anything.

Another silence hung through the air.

Xena's voice cut through it. It was low, soft: "Ask me what my job is."

A gripping fear suddenly struck through Venus, she didn't know why.

"Venus, I said, ask me what my job is." Xena's voice had risen significantly, but her voice still had the same calm undertones to it. Venus knew it was just an act. The woman before her was anything but calm right then.

"I don't want to." Venus blurted out, feeling her eyes pricking with tears. "I don't want to ask you what your job is, Xena-"

"I said, ask me what my job is."

"Please, I don't-"

"VENUS, ASK ME WHAT MY FUCKING JOB IS!"

The scream that had erupted from Xena was ringing in Venus' ear. It was loud, shrill, filled with so much emotion: anger, pain. Venus never thought she'd hear the taller woman ever scream. Most of all, she didn't think she'd ever be on the receiving end of it.

"What is your job, Xena?" Venus sobbed. She didn't realize when the tears had broken through the surface. Now they convulsed over her. "What's your job?" Venus broke down there crying. She struggled to get a hold of herself before turning to look back up at Xena who was regarding her indifferently. Venus reached up and wiped the remaining tears on her face, swallowing hard.

"Are you done?"

The coldness in that question alone almost made Venus start crying all over again, but she didn't. She bit down on her lip hard and nodded instead.

Xena spoke: "I am a Secret Agent that works for the FBI. Right now, the case we are dealing with is that of Richard Mascetti. Specifically, one of his Assassin's codenamed 'V'."

It was Venus' turn to jump to her feet, moving to the other side of the room, placing her body flat against it. It was her turn for her eyes to widen as she blinked profusely. She didn't know what she had expected when Xena asked her to ask what her job was. But this... this wasn't it.

The emotions going through her seemed to intensify.

Xena laughed. At first Venus thought she had imagined hearing it, she had thought it was just an illusion playing in her head. She thought she had finally lost it, had finally gone crazy. Then Xena laughed again.

She kept on laughing and Venus kept on staring at her in utter confusion. The laugh was hollow, the sound almost scared Venus. Yet Xena laughed and continued to laugh. She slapped her hands against her knees as she did so. Her head was bent over so her short hair fell into her face. Her features were contorted as she laughed and Xena just watched.

Slowly but surely, the laugh morphed into something else. Xena was now crying. It sounded strangled; the sound was even more terrifying than the laugh.

Venus couldn't understand what she was seeing before her. She didn't know if the older woman was crying; she didn't know if she was laughing. But she stood there, watching her regardless, not saying anything.

Then Xena stopped.

She just stopped the mixture of tears and laughter that she had been displaying. She stood up, straightening her back and looking directly at Venus, who responded by pressing her back further into the wall.

The sight was quite comical. These two women who had been entangled in bed together mere moments ago were now standing on opposite sides of a room. Literally trying to get as far away from each other as possible.

"So what you're saying," Xena began, her voice still holding that unidentifiable tone. "You kill people? People that have done nothing to you, people that you don't even know. You kill them?"

Venus couldn't bring herself to speak, so she just nodded her head. She didn't think she had blinked at all in the last few minutes, her eyes had been peeled to the woman across the room.

Xena nodded her head too. She brought her hand to her chin as she regarded the smaller woman one final time.

"Venus, get the fuck out of my house."