A/N: Credit for part of this chapter goes to natashaheisenburg. Thanks a bunch, deary!

It had been three months since Sub Zero had found her and saved her from the horrible demon woman, Mizuki. He took some severe wounds for himself, but nothing compared to what Scorpion had faced. Mizuki, out of brute strength, had broken her femur, stabbed and broken her collarbone with a deadly barbed dagger, and nearly impaled her entirely with her own kunai. It had looked like she would heal within a few weeks in exception to her fractured bones, but her stab wound had gotten infected and almost killed her. But she wasn't going to die. No. She'd been through too much shit already to die of a gods damned infection. After several weeks of recovery from emthat/em, she was finally up and limping around. (With a lot of help from Sub Zero and Smoke as well as Nanz). It was painful, yes, but she was recovering quickly, which is what she was hoping for. Unfortunately for her, she seemed to have gotten quite attached to Hanzo and Sato. And as much as she didn't want to admit it, to Sub Zero and Smoke as well. They were much different than she had ever thought they were when she was a man. Perhaps that is something that women were better at than men. Earning trust. She knew that Smoke trusted her. He told her a lot of things that she knew he wouldn't share with anyone. This made Scorpion feel special to some degree. Sure, she had been married, but she had never had a friend she shared her emfeelings/em with like she could with Smoke. And Sub Zero! He had helped her in her recovery the most out of them all, and she had asked him why. He always responded with,

"Because I owe you my life." Sure, that was true...but it was still weird getting help from her worst enemy. Or was he even her enemy anymore? She found herself wondering this more than she would have thought. They couldn't be enemies. Sub Zero had never done anything to her clan. He was just a young boy when it happened. And he was so much different than his older brother, that much was certain. He was kinder. Funnier. Gods, was he funny. Once they had both loosened up and gotten to know each other a little better, they both found each other to be great company. She found herself often thinking abo-

"Selene. You're getting spacey again." Smoke chuckled. Scorpion snapped her attention back to Smoke, smiling.

"Sorry, sorry. You know how I am." She replied, glancing around the trees, which had small green buds beginning to sprout along their dainty branches.

"Indeed." The enenra answered with a small smile, looking down at Scorpion, who was leaning against his side and limping along the trail. "Your limp is looking better." He commented. Scorpion looked down at her leg, which was still heavily wrapped and splinted.

"Oh. I suppose it does." Scorpion smiled, looking up at him. "That's good!"

"Indeed it is! Then you can go back to beating up all the masters." He winked.

"Does that include you?" She said flirtatiously. Smoke laughed loudly.

"I would hope not!"

Scorpion looked forward again, smiling as they neared the Lin Kuei base. It was almost lunchtime, and all the Earthrealm warriors were sitting outside the doors in the now green grass. They ate their food out of bowls, seeming to be getting along for once. Smoke chuckled.

"I guess they decided it was nice enough to eat outside."

"I would never had thought it could get this nice so high up in the mountains." Scorpion replied, looking up at the fair blue sky. This was true. She had no idea the weather could be this fair up in the mountains. She shrugged and scanned the faces of the Earthrealm warriors, surprised to pick out Sub Zero in the crowd almost immediately. He was visiting with Kabal and Stryker, maskless. She stared at him in surprise. He suddenly glanced up as he felt her eyes, their gazes colliding for a long moment before Scorpion blinked in surprise. Sub Zero gave her a kind smile, and she felt her cheeks heat up a bit. By the Gods, he was a gorgeous man.

Smoke turned and began walking over to him, practically dragging Scorpion along with him. He helped her sit down, but she lost her balance at the last moment, falling over straight into Sub Zero's lap. Immediately, Smoke began to laugh as well as Kabal and Stryker. Sub Zero's cheeks flared bright pink and Scorpion felt her face grow hot. Sub Zero couldn't very well shove her off otherwise he would end up touching her in certain places and it would just end up more awkward. And Scorpion certainly couldn't just get out of his lap unless she wanted to flop onto the ground like some retarded fish. Both looked up at Smoke, silently pleading him to help them. This only made the enenra laugh harder.

"Erm...sorry..." Sub Zero struggled to say as Smoke wouldn't help them. "I...uh...here...um..." Sub Zero carefully slid a hand underneath her thighs and sliding her off his lap, blushing an unflattering bright crimson. Scorpion was sure she looked the same as she scooted away from him.

"My bad." She murmured, her eyes wide as she stared down at the ground. Smoke and Kabal and Stryker still couldn't stop laughing. It was then that Scorpion realized that they had attracted the attention of all the Earthrealm warriors. Which meant they had all seen what had transpired. Scorpion groaned, the pain her leg beginning to flare up. Sub Zero glanced over to her.

"Does your leg hurt?" He whispered, as if he had read her mind. She nodded, chewing on her lip. Sub Zero stood, sending a harsh glare to the Earthrealm warriors, which made them all avert their gazes and continue their conversations as if the incident had never happened. The Grandmaster turned to her and helped her stand, allowing her to lean against his side. For some reason, what had seemed perfectly normal before was now quite awkward and almost invasive. But nonetheless, she put an arm over his shoulders and let him wrap his arm around her waist to help her walk. His touch was much lighter than usual, which only seemed to make her blush even deeper.

"To the healer?" Sub Zero asked curtly. She nodded and he began leading her down to the healer's wing. It was slow going, and Scorpion regretted that she wasn't wearing her mask. She could tell that Sub Zero also wished he was wearing his by the way he kept his face turned away from hers the entire time.

"Selene! Grandmaster Sub Zero!" Hanzo exclaimed, running toward them with another young boy following him.

"What is it, Hanzo?" Scorpion smiled down at him, relaxing a bit at seeing the boy.

"Selene, we need another person to play hide and seek with us and nobody will play with us!" Hanzo exclaimed. Scorpion blinked.

"Hanzo, Selene needs to get to the healer's wing." Sub Zero said firmly. Hanzo's face fell, and Scorpion's heart broke.

"Oh, one round won't hurt anything." She said. Sub Zero looked down at her in surprise.

"But Selene-"

"Hush. I'm fine. It's just one round." Hanzo grinned, hugging her non injured leg.

"Yay! I count and you guys hide!" Hanzo ran to the nearest wall and squished his nose against it, covering his eyes. "One...two...three...five...nine..." Scorpion chuckled and looked up at Sub Zero, who rolled his eyes.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." He mumbled, helping Scorpion down the halls, his eyes scanning for a suitable hiding place.

"Twenty eight...THIRTY! Ready or not, here I come!" Hanzo exclaimed, his small footsteps heard along the tiled floor. Sub Zero and Scorpion exchanged a look of alarm. Suddenly, this wasn't a child's game. This was a mission. And they emmust not/em be found. Sub Zero quickly pulled Scorpion down the hallway, gasping as he saw a closet.

"No no no...wait!" Scorpion protested. Her cry came upon deaf ears as Sub Zero ungracefully shoved her into the closet and stepped in behind her, closing the door. The closet space was cramped, and Scorpion was against Sub Zero's chest.

"I hate you..." She hissed. She saw the flash of white teeth, suggesting a grin had crossed Sub Zero's lips.

"That's cool. I love me too." He answered calmly.

Scorpion could already imagine him winking, which made her curse the Elder Gods. If it weren't for them, she wouldn't be in this situation! It was quite uncomfortable in the closet. The back of her head pressed against what seemed to be the tip of a broom, and her hands were touching something firm and warm. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she was surprised to see Sub Zero's face mere inches from hers. With no where else to put her hands other than the gross wet thing, she placed them back on his chest.

"Would you kindly move your head?" She asked irritably. His nose was already dangerously close to hers, and she found it uncomfortable.

Sub-zero laughed softly, his cool breath tickling her skin. "Why should I?" he smirked. "I happen to be very comfortable in this position." Scorpion was dumbfounded.

"Excuse me?" She choked.

"Well," he whispered, all hints of previous shyness gone. "Any guy would kill to be in my position." At her raised eyebrow, he elaborated. "I'm stuck in a cupboard, pressed against the most beautiful girl in the stronghold. I'm a lucky man."

At his words, Scorpion felt her face heat up. She could only hope that it was too dark for him to see-

"Are you blushing?"

No such luck.

"N-no!" she stammered...stammered! Clearly the lack of oxygen had already muddled with her brain. She heard Sub Zero shift in his place and after a while, she felt a warm hand covering her own and another brushing the hair out of her eyes. She looked down, and was surprised that Sub Zero dipped his head and placed his forehead on hers. The tip of his nose was already touching the bridge of hers. Her heart was hammering in her chest so loud that she wondered why he couldn't hear it. emWhat is this?!/em she thought vehemently.

Her breathing quickened as Sub Zero breathed into her ear, "You know, you look stunning when you blush."

Scorpion's eyes widened in shock, and she felt her entire face heat up.

"It's almost funny, because any other time, you would have tried to beat my ass by now..." Sub Zero murmured, a small chuckle interlacing his words. Scorpion swallowed harshly. She wanted to say something, but her mouth felt as if it were full of cotton. Sub Zero's dark eyes watched her, his breathing sounding even and confident. For some reason, as much as her brain told her to shove him the fuck out of that closet, she found herself actually wanting him there. She was so angry with herself, yet also sickly pleased by the feeling she felt in the pit of her stomach.

The hand that had brushed her hair out of her face gently cupped her jaw, bringing her face closer to his. emNo/em, not just the face. Their faces were close enough. It was their lips that drew themselves closer to one another. Just as Scorpion felt Sub Zero's soft lips brush her own, the door to the closet flung open. Sub Zero tumbled backwards onto the tiled floor, leaving Scorpion speechless. Hanzo giggled loudly.

"FOUND YOU!

Scorpion sighed in relief, thanking the gods that it wasn't Smoke or Nanz who had caught Sub Zero and her in the closet. But she had sent her thanks too soon. Nanz's laughter swelled through the halls and into the small closet as Scorpion pathetically limped out.

"Selene and Sub Zero were making out in the closet! Daaaaammmnn!" Both hers and Sub Zero's faces were redder than beets, and both were not quite there, but still in the closet, thinking of what had happened. Had she just kissed the brother of the man who killed her and slaughtered her clan? By the gods, she had to be insane. She looked around the area, trying to look as calm and cool as possible. Immediately, she caught sight of Smoke, who looked...dejected? Sadness was evident on his face and in the way he stood with his shoulders slouched. His silvery eyes were wide in a mixture of horror and sorrow. She saw him swallow down the lump in his throat and turn, sprinting down the hallway and turning down the corridor that led to his room. Scorpion frowned. She wanted to go after him, ask him what was wrong. Though, she felt she knew.

Smoke loved her. That had to be it. She hated to assume and make a complete ass out of herself, so she decided it would be best to say nothing and focus on the task at hand.

Sub Zero stood up, brushing the dust off of his uniform. His face was still deep crimson, and his blue eyes kept darting over to Scorpion and back to Nanz.

"I...um...This can be explained." Sub Zero started.

"We were just hiding from Hanzo in a game of hide and go seek. Nothing at all happened." Scorpion cut in. Sub Zero sent her a look of relief, and she gave a brief nod. Nanz still looked skeptical, but shrugged.

"Okay. Whatever you say, hon."

Sub Zero looked over to her again. "Let's get you to the healer..." He murmured, looping his arm around her waist and allowing her arm to rest across his shoulders. He began to lead her away from Nanz and the other people staring at them in shock. He turned down a hallway toward the healer, not allowing himself to make eye contact with her for a long while. Finally, he spoke.

"I'm sorry." Scorpion wanted to yell 'You should be!', but instead, she was calm.

"What for?" Sub Zero looked at her in surprise. Hell, she had even surprised herself.

"For...you know."

"Seems silly to apologize for something you're not sorry about." Scorpion replied with a small smile, looking over to him. He relaxed his broad shoulders, chewing on his bottom lip in thought. He turned down a small, deserted hallway.

"Sub Zero, this isn't the way-"

Sub Zero interrupted her by pressing his lips against her own. She sucked in a breath through her nose, her eyes wide. Oddly enough, she found herself relaxing, a cooling sensation trickling through her veins. He pulled away, his blue eyes not leaving her dark brown ones.

"Call me Kuai Liang." He whispered.

xxx

A dark figure flitted across the hallway, blending in with the other shadows. Two milky white eyes peered from the darkness, watching Sub Zero and Scorpion.

"Oh brother...if only you knew." Noob Saibot chuckled. "If only you knew."