This was it.

Venus had arrived at The Boss' mansion to turn herself in. Now that she was no longer drunk, she was feeling terrified. Venus knew that she was about to face the ultimate wrath of The Boss; which no doubt, would end in her death. But Venus knew that this was what she had to do. It was the only thing she could do. Better she confessed her sins before he found out by himself. Hopefully, he wouldn't torture her as long.

Venus had tried desperately to forget the events of the past few days. She had drunk herself to a stupor multiple times. Yet, no matter what she did, no matter how hard she tried. The events of that evening still stayed clear in her mind. It was still all that she thought about.

The pain was all that she felt.

Venus had a headache. It was a constant pounding in her head, due to drinking continuously for the last few days and now was now severely hungover.

Venus sucked in a sharp breath as she entered The Boss' main room. She quickly looked over the room, taking in the familiar details; after all, it would be her last time seeing it. She stared at the red carpeting, knowing that today it was going to be her blood that would be the one to fall there. As common practice, the room was filled with Assassins. Venus suddenly felt very small.

"V," The Boss said the moment she appeared before him, "you're just the person I was about to call for."

A pang shot through V and her heart race quickened. Why was The Boss about to call for her? Did he know already?

Venus looked up at his face, trying to catch any hint. But he kept it set in its usual hard, serious expression. His dark eyes seemed to bore into Venus'.

"To what do I owe this visit? You haven't come looking for another job, have you?"

Venus shook her head before turning her head up slowly to look at The Boss.

He was dressed in the usual robes and heavy jewelry, in his hand was a glass of wine which he took occasional sips from, his eyes never leaving Venus. All of a sudden, Venus was aware of all the eyes in the room that were boring into her, she was aware of all the other Assassins that were about to judge her once they heard what she said.

For a second, Venus wondered if this was a mistake. She didn't want to be tortured, she didn't want to have all the other Assassins watch her downfall. She had once felt powerful amongst them. Even though she didn't feel that way anymore, Venus still wanted to go out with that memory. That memory of what life was like before she became aware, before she learnt how to feel.

Then an image of Xena flashed through her mind and everything she had been thinking disappeared.

"Boss," Venus began, "I'm here to turn myself in."

Venus heard the gasps all around the room. She had expected it, but she didn't look up. She kept her eyes glued to the ground, scared of what she might see before her, scared of what she would see in The Boss' face.

"The Doctor that you sent me to kill, I didn't kill her."

There was the sound of glass dropping against the floor, which caused Venus to look up suddenly. The Boss had dropped the glass in his hands, wine was spilled all around, but he didn't care. The only thing he was focused on was Venus. He had gotten up abruptly and was now looking at her, eyes flashing.

"What did you just say?"

It was then that Venus visibly began shaking. Her knees were knocking against each other and she suddenly felt cold. She knew she looked just as pathetic as she felt.

"I didn't kill the Doctor that you ordered the hit on." Venus said, her voice was shaking just as much as her body, "Instead, when I went to her house, I told her to run." Venus swallowed, but it had no effect. She could taste bile on her tongue as The Boss continued to glare at her, processing what she had just said.

There was not a single sound in the room besides Venus' heavy breathing. It was clear that all the Assassins were in shock; it seemed as if the world had frozen, was at a standstill as The Boss decided her fate.

"So," The Boss approached Venus as he talked, "you're saying that you did not kill the Doctor? You let her go?"

Venus nodded her head. She was certain that her voice no longer worked, so she didn't even bother trying.

"You disobeyed me, the highest form of disrespect." The Boss had now stopped right in front of Venus, and she thought she might pass out right then and there. She bit down hard on her tongue, to shock herself out of the immobilizing pain that she was feeling as she stared at The Boss in front of her. Fury was clear in his eyes. She had seen this look various times before, but never once had it been directed at her. But now, she guessed it was her time.

The Boss continued regarding her shaking figure for a moment, not saying anything. The suspense was driving Venus crazy. She just wanted him to get it over with. She just wanted to get her life over with.

As Venus watched The Boss make his way back to his seat, sinking into it and crossing his hands on his laps before him. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion, but Venus knew what was coming.

Her mind wavered to Xena. She wished that she could have told the older girl goodbye; she wished somehow that she could see her one last time, but that wasn't the case. She knew Xena didn't want to see her, especially not now that she knew the monster she was.

"V, do you know why I ordered the hit on the Doctor?"

The Boss' sudden question threw Venus off completely. His voice was hard when he spoke, cold. She didn't understand why it would matter, especially right then. But she shook her head nonetheless.

"I ordered the kill because the Doctor planned to go to the FBI with information about you. I ordered the kill to protect you."

Venus stared at him blankly. Thoughts could no longer form in her head. The silence in the room seemed to grow as the seconds passed.

"But since you didn't kill her, she most likely went to the FBI and they're probably on your very trail as we speak."

Venus knew the FBI was on her trail already. After all, she had all but admitted what she was to an FBI Agent. But what Venus couldn't understand was why The Boss ordered the hit to protect her. Why did he care about what happened to her?

There was now a silence that rested in the room. The tension was thick.

Once again, The Boss got to his feet.

This is it.

Venus was certain that he was going to announce how Venus was about to leave this world, her cause of death. He was probably even going to order an Assassin to bring the tools necessary and get a chair ready.

Venus swallowed.

"Do you know why I was going to call for you?"

What?

Venus squinted for a second, then remembered that The Boss had told her earlier on that he was just about to call for her. She shook her head, not understanding the need of all the questions, the questions that she clearly didn't have the answers to.

The Boss continued to walk towards her. He now stopped a little distance from where he was and reached into his pocket.

Venus was so sure that he would bring out a gun, he'd bring out a gun and just shoot her then and there. But instead, The Boss brought out a piece of paper.

"Bruce informed me that he had severally sighted you with an FBI Agent." The Boss said, causing Venus' heart to stop beating in her chest altogether.

For the first time since she entered the room, she turned to look at the other Assassins. It did not take her long to notice Bruce. Whilst the other Assassins wore paling expressions on their faces, Bruce had a smirk on his. His eyes were bright and his arms were crossed in front of his chest. As Venus watched, his smirk deepened once they made eye contact.

"What do you know about this?"

Tearing her eyes from Bruce, Venus brought them back to look at The Boss. He was now holding up the piece of paper. It took Venus a few seconds before she realized that it wasn't a piece of paper, but rather, a photograph of her and Xena. From what they were wearing and the scenery, it became clear to Venus that the photograph was taken on the day Xena had taken her to the outside café. Despite herself, Venus couldn't help thinking that the picture was a beautiful one. They were both smiling, Venus had never seen herself smile before.

"I asked, what do you know about this?" The Boss' voice had raised significantly and Venus was immediately snapped out of her little trip down memory lane. "Why were you with an FBI Agent?"

"I didn't know she was an FBI Agent at the time." Venus replied truthfully. She heard a voice inside of her head asking if that would have changed anything if she had known. Venus pushed it away, focusing instead on The Boss.

He had put the photograph away and was walking back to his chair. Venus couldn't understand anything that was happening. She should have been dead by now. It was very unlike The Boss to waste this much time with people that disobeyed him.

As Venus watched, The Boss motioned to an Assassin and whispered something to him. This was it. The order for her kill had been put out.

Venus took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The Assassin left the room and reappeared a few moments later. Rather than the tools of destruction that Venus had expected to see him return with, he had a glass of wine in his hand to replace the previous one which he handed to The Boss.

Venus had never felt so confused in her life as she watched The Boss take the glass and begin to sip on it.

"I have a proposal for you." The Boss said, leaning back slightly in his seat. There was a break that stretched out before he spoke again. "Kill that FBI Agent and you get to live. Fail to kill her, I would make sure to kill her myself. Not only that, it'd torture her severely and make you watch the whole thing. After which, I will kill you. Slowly and painfully."