Chapter 35

Krystal sat alone in her hotel room at the edge of the couch with her knees tucked up to her chest, angry and sad at the same time. It hurt her deeply that Fox didn't trust her. It hurt her further to have to distrust him because of it. Fox... why don't you trust me? She mulled over their conversation, again and again. He knows who's trying to kill me. He knows who Cloaky is. But he won't tell me. Why?

She took a deep breath.

"Let's see what we know about the bad guy. His brother is Con. He's close with Vivian. He wants you dead, and he doesn't want you to know who he is."

Yes, that's true.

"Well, since Con is his family, what do we know about Con? He's in love with you. He wants to protect you. He tends to show up when you're in trouble, and then mysteriously vanish..."

What are you getting at, Fox? She sat for a moment with her eyes closed, concentrating. Tony. Tony showed up at the hospital, and then immediately vanished. But he... the others can see him. He can't be Con. Con can only be seen when he stops time. And he has a bad wound. The idea struck her like a brick to the face. What if it's Tony? But... why would he want to kill me? His brother... Connor. Of course, Con. That part makes sense. But Tony? He's a jerk sometimes, and a slimy cheating asshole, but murder?

She stood up and paced back and forth in the room. "No... he wouldn't."

She picked up the hotel phone and dialed his number.

"Hello?"

"Tony?"

"Speaking."

"It's Krystal."

"Oh, thank God. I've been so worried about you! I heard you were in the hospital. Are you doing okay?"

"Yes... I'm in perfect health."

"I'm so glad you called. I've been beside myself with worry!"

See? Not Tony. No way. She sighed softly in relief. "Are you free?"

"Right now? It's...almost one in the morning."

"Oh... Sorry. I lost track of time. Did I wake you?"

"No, not at all."

"I just wanted to talk, that's all. Sorry. Another time."

"Well, I don't have anything do to tomorrow. Where are you?"

"I'm leaving tomorrow. I'm in a hotel."

"What hotel?"

"The... Luna, something."

"Luna Stone?"

"That's the one."

"Are you going to be awake in about a half hour?"

"Probably."

"I'll just come over for a bit. Don't fall asleep on me."

She smiled a little. "Thank you."

"Of course. I'll see you soon."

She hung up the phone. See? Nothing to worry about. Same old Tony. But she couldn't shake the feeling that she was wrong.

In exactly twenty-eight minutes, there was a soft knock on her door. She took a breath and opened it. Tony stood in the hallway. At the sight of her, a huge grin spread across his face.

"Wow." He raised a brow at her, lingering his gaze on her scantily clad body.

She glanced down at her form-fitting tank top and boy-short underwear. "Oh, shut up. I almost married you. You've seen me in less clothes than this."

"True, but not for a while. I didn't think it possible, but you've grown more beautiful," he said as he walked past her.

"Knock it off, you." She closed the door. "I have an odd question."

"What is it?"

"Did you visit me in the hospital?"

He sat down on the stool at the kitchen bar-counter and gave her a questioning look.

"No, okay. I wasn't sure if it was a dream," She lied. I know it wasn't a dream... this points to Connor being Con. She paced down the hallway and leaned on the kitchen counter, opposite him. "So, I've done some thinking, and I've also discovered a few things."

"Such as?"

"You slept with my sister."

The smile vanished from his face. He cleared his throat self consciously. "Wow... you don't beat around the bush."

"No, not when it's something like that. Care to explain yourself?"

He swallowed nervously, stalling while his mind raced for explanations. "I... I really have nothing good to say about that. It was a mistake. I had been led to believe that you and my brother had done something, so I... I acted on an impulse. A stupid one, at that. You can't imagine how awful I felt about it afterwards."

"Not awful enough to confess."

"I didn't want to cause you unnecessary pain, you see, I wasn't going to do it again and I didn't think you'd ever find out."

"It seems everyone in my life right now is so concerned with what pain they might cause me by just being honest. And quite honestly, I would prefer that pain over the pain of being lied to."

"Honestly? I had forgotten about it. It meant almost nothing to me."

Krystal nodded slowly. "I heard you saying her name in your sleep." He was silent. "On more than one occasion."

He shook his head. "Look, all I can say is that I'm sorry."

"Well, good. You should be."

(Meanwhile...)

Fox jolted awake, startled by the sharp knocking sound. He rolled over, squinting at his clock, and then slowly sat up. The hell does anyone want me up at one thirty in the damn morning for?

The knocks came again, more frantic this time.

"All right, I'm coming." He stood up, still in his boxers, and rubbed his eyes as he reached for the knob. "What is it?"

"Can I come in?" It was Tony. He stood in the hall, dressed in a black hoodie and loose jeans.

"Uh... sure, Tony." Fox was now not only half awake, but in a bad mood. "What do you want?"

"I'm not..." The vulpine started to raise his voice, but took a deep breath instead. "I'm not Tony."

Fox gave him a hard stare.

"I'm his brother. My name is Connor. You knew me as Con."

"I fucking knew it!" Fox exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

"Sh! Keep it down. They're in the room over."

"Who?"

"Krystal and my brother."

Fox's hand balled into a fist. "If he harms a hair on her head..."

"The two of us are right here, ready to stop him."

"Please tell me I'm not dreaming. You're really Con?"

The hooded fox held out his hand and created a light blue force field for show. "I came into contact with the stone and an electric current. I'm fully alive now. Unfortunately, that means I can't stop time anymore, and everyone can see me. I followed Tony here. I don't know what his intentions are, but knowing him, they aren't good."

"He's really the one who's been trying to kill her?"

"Yes."

"I knew it. I knew there was a better reason I hated him."

"You mean besides the jealousy?" Connor chuckled. "That never goes away, no matter how many other reasons you have to hate him."

Fox nodded slowly. "I get that."

"I hate to ask this of you... but when you do get your hands on him, don't kill him."

"Are you being serious?"

"Unfortunately. I'm allowed to be a little bit selfish. If he dies, I'll die, and I'm not ready to go out just yet."

"I have some bad news," Fox began. "We're heading out for Cerinia tomorrow."

"Ah, right. The temple." Connor hung his head slightly. "That's another story. If it's by the means of saving Cerinia, please kill him. Just... not before then."

"Why not?"

"Like I said... if he dies, I'll die. It's how I ended up with the ghosting ability in the first place. I died, Fox. I was slashed across the stomach. My soul left my body. My heart stopped. I was dead, but so was Tony. And Vivian at the time had the stone. She brought him back to life using it, but she couldn't keep him alive without me. It pulled me to him, but they didn't want me alive. She brought Tony back again, and as he lay dying, she slowly drained life into me until it was just enough to keep him from dying. I was in between life and death."

"But how...?"

"Tony and I were once the same person. The same way that Vivian is both Angie and Vivian. Our past life was a man named Tomas on Cerinia. When he died, the Guardians panicked. Tomas was supposed to be destined for greatness, or something. They took his soul and threw it towards the closest newborn. It was Tony and I. We were the newborn. The soul split. We are two halves of one soul."

Fox chuckled. "Good and evil. Some say they're different sides of the same coin. In your case, they're two sides of the same soul."

"That's one way to see it. Either way, we can't be separated. If one of us dies, we both will. And like I said, I don't want to die just yet."

"I understand that feeling." Fox sat on the edge of his bed, facing the door that connected his room with Krystal's. "What's Tony's real name, anyways? It's got to be short for something."

"Anton."

"Right, makes sense. I heard Vivian call him that, I just had to be sure. Funny, even his name sounds evil." He joked. "So... I don't know a lot about Krystal's past. But I know you were in it, and Tony as well. But Krystal didn't even remember your name."

Connor smiled reminiscently. "It's complicated. Tony was always the more violent brother. I always had to do what he said, because he would beat me if I didn't. I know there's the whole, we're twins, we're the same size thing, but I was young and scared. Tony always liked Krystal. I did, too. I mean, she's beautiful. When they were old enough, he courted her. But his side of the soul didn't really get the whole, tact thing. He was always saying stupid things and being angry, and upsetting her. She, like most people, had a hard time telling the difference between he and I. So he started sending me to apologize to her, and make up for him."

"That's a lousy move."

"Yeah, well... he didn't want to lose her. After a while of that, she found out. She was furious with me, and with him. He almost lost her again. Around that time, her father started training her in telepathy. She got good enough to tell us apart, but Tony still tried to send me to apologize. She's not stupid, though. She knew it was me. We grew close... But then her sixteenth birthday came." He took a deep breath. "Something happened between her and I. And the next day, Tony read her mind and found out. He went into a rage."

"But he's not telepathic."

"Not anymore, no. He used to be. He was so angry that he committed a forbidden act among telepaths. He destroyed her mind. He took every memory she had of me and crushed it, and he very nearly destroyed her in the process. I had to put her mind back together... The Guardians were furious with Tony, and they took away his telepathy. The power comes from the soul, though, and they took away mine too. She doesn't remember being with me. She doesn't remember all of the talks we had, or the fun we had, or getting to know me."

Fox clenched his fist at thought of Tony hurting her and lifted his knuckle to his lips.

"Do you see now, why I had to keep my identity hidden from her? She barely remembers that I exist. She would think that I am Tony. And after he revealed himself, she would side with him and not me. I'm just this weird guy that kinda scared her once by knowing too much about her."

"I don't think she'd side with the person trying to kill her."

"He wouldn't come out and say he's the one trying to kill her. He would accuse me of it, and tell her he's the one protecting her. She would believe him."

"Okay, but she's a telepath. Can't she tell you guys apart?"

"Not exactly. When the Guardian took away our telepathy, she made sure we wouldn't be vulnerable. Both Tony and I have strong mind blocks. If we control our emotions properly, it's impossible for even a telepath to tell us apart."

Fox nodded. "At last, it all makes sense. So... why are we just here waiting?"

"We're listening. I'm giving him one last chance not to be evil. If I hear anything from the room that sounds like a struggle, I'm busting down the door."

"Any chance that if he leaves without incident, you'll help me explain to Krystal that her ex-fiance is the one who tried to kill her?"

"None whatsoever."

"Great." Fox stared at the door for a moment. "Are we going to be able to hear through the walls? Hotels these days have really good insulation."

Connor stood up. "Open the door on your side."

Fox unlocked the hand print scanner and opened the door. Connor stood and pressed his ear to it.

"What do you hear?" Fox asked.

"Back up. I'm breaking it down."

(Meanwhile...)

Krystal walked to the sink for a glass of water.

"Here, let me get that." Tony said, getting a second glass and taking hers from her hand.

She walked around to the other side and sat at the stool. "I'm sorry to have called you all the way here just for that. You're being a terrific sport about it."

"No, that's fine." He chuckled, handing Krystal her glass. "I'd be pissed too if I found out something like that."

She took a long drink of water, and then held the glass at waist level. "I've been doing some thinking... and I think you and I are better off as friends."

"What?"

"Things got really complicated. For a while, I thought you'd died, and then I thought you died a second time. I moved on. I still care about you, but not like I used to."

His expression had become serious. "What are you saying?"

"You and Fox asked me to choose who I'd rather be with romantically. I'm choosing Fox."

"He lied to you."

"You cheated on me."

Tony's hands curled into fists. "That was years ago."

"Yes, it was. It was also years ago that I was in love with you. I'm not anymore."

It was then that Tony snapped. His open palm flew through the air, colliding in great force with the side of Krystal's face. She gasped, holding her stinging cheek and staring at him with wide eyes. The glass of water in her fingers slid to the ground and shattered.

He grabbed her by the shirt and threw her across the room. She stumbled and rolled to the floor, still shocked that he had slapped her. She turned around and threw a kick at him, but he caught her leg in mid-air instead, and used it to drag her across the carpet.

Her head was spinning. She kicked his shin with her other leg. He flinched and leaned down to pick her up. She threw a punch at his face, but he grabbed her wrist and held it in a vise-like grip. "Let me go!" She cried, slapping him with her free hand.

He grabbed her other arm and then pulled her to her feet. "I'm tired of this game. This ends tonight."

"What are you talking about?! Let go of me!" A wave of white energy surged from her body in defense.

Without even flinching, he absorbed it. His eyes took on a slight red glow. "You can't save Cerinia. You won't. I am here to make sure of it and even if I don't have it in me to kill you, I will destroy your spirit. Only the pure of heart can enter the temple, and I will destroy yours." He threw her onto the bed, and it was then she realized what his plan was.

She scrambled to get away from him, but her body seemed reluctant to obey her. He grabbed and handful of her hair and yanked her head around, burying her face in the pillows. She screamed. What's going on? Why can't I fight back?

He grabbed her shirt and yanked, hard enough to leave marks on her skin and tear off the fabric. She writhed beneath him, kicking her heels up in attempt to hit him. Her kicks grew weaker and slower, until she couldn't lift her feet up at all. He ripped her underwear off, and then she started to cry. She screamed something unintelligible into the pillow and flailed her arms. He crushed her body beneath his and whispered directly into her ear, "The less you fight me, the faster it'll be over."

She reached up and grabbed his ear, yanking downward as hard as she could. His grip on her hair loosened, and she turned her head to gasp for air, directly next to his face. "When I get up, I'm going to kill you myself."

He laughed, and she twisted his ear as hard as she could. Her fingers wouldn't cooperate.

"What's...what's going on? What did you do to me?" She could feel her muscles slowly relaxing. He put something in my water! Oh god...

As soon as her grip lessened, he jerked his head away and reasserted his grip on her hair. "You're not going to get that chance. I'm going to make sure you stay awake for this, because I want you to feel everything. The drug I put in your water takes away your ability to control your muscles, but not your ability to feel them. When I'm done, I'm going to just walk away, and you'll have no choice but to lay there and let me."

Krystal screamed, and he buried her face back in the pillows. Her shoulders shook with sobs. His fingers trailed slowly along her bare back.

He leaned back up to whisper in her ear. "Oh, I've waited so long for this..." He stuck out his tongue and dragged it along the side of her face. He leaned back and released her hair, and she heard the sounds of his belt unbuckling.

Help me! Fox, please! If you can hear me...

There was a loud bang behind her, and she could feel Tony tense up. Suddenly, his weight was lifted off of her. She turned her head and gasped for air, unable to move her arms or legs.

"You piece of shit!" Fox yelled. He shoved the larger vulpine into the wall and delivered a vicious punch to the jaw.

Tony shoved his rival away and stood ready, with his arms spread, beckoning. Fox darted forward.

"No, don't!" Krystal cried.

Tony ducked to the side and tripped the mercenary, sending him tumbling on the floor. He then leaped down and straddled him. Fox threw up his arms in defense of his face as Tony threw punches.

Fox planted his feet in the floor and thrust his body violently upwards, dumping the other male forward to the floor. He curled his knees to his chest and then threw his weight out, jumping back to his feet and turning around just in time to see Tony draw a knife. He dodged several angry swipes, stepping back until he hit the wall. He rolled to the side as Tony lunged straight forward, embedding the knife in the wall. Fox leapt into the air and threw a perfectly aimed roundhouse kick, dropping Tony to the floor.

Tony rolled, but not fast enough. Fox's foot slammed into his gut, shooting pain throughout his body. He kicked him a second time for good measure.

Then the mercenary grabbed his foe by the shirt collar, lifting him off the ground, and slammed his back against the wall. "You disgust me." He sneered. "You'll never touch her again, you hear me?"

"Or what?" Tony smirked a bloody smile.

"I. Will. End you." Fox spoke slowly, the tone in his voice conveying the seriousness. He drew back his fist and slammed it into Tony's temple, knocking him out cold. He turned to Krystal, who hadn't moved. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yes!" She said. Her head was turned away, but he could hear the tears in her voice.

"Give me a minute." He took off Tony's already unbuckled belt and used it to bind the his hands behind his back, and then he dragged the unconscious vulpine into his room, into the closet, and slammed the door.

He turned to Connor, who was hiding behind the counter in case Krystal came in. "Take care of him. If I see him again, I'm going to kill him." He said quietly.

Connor nodded.

"Don't let me find him in my closet later. I'm not kidding." He took a breath to calm himself. "If I see him again, I will murder him."

Author's Notes: -awaits crowd cheering for Fox-