Phoenix stared at her reflection in the mirror with a critical eye. Wearing black capri pants and a backless long sleeved shirt, she glowered with dissatisfaction. This was her fourth outfit change, and also the same ensemble she wore for her first meeting with Captain Obi.

A sigh, loud and long, pushed past her lips. Nothing she wore would make her happy today. She was simply not ready to meet her father. If she was to be completely honest with herself, she would never be ready to see him face to face much less speak to him.

Despite not being a coward, she realized she had made it a disconcerting habit to run away from the difficult things, the emotionally trying events she would really rather not deal with.

Squaring her shoulders and inhaling a deep cleansing breath, Phoenix decided this would be the outfit she would wear to meet her father. It had brought her luck the last time she wore it for an important meeting. All she had to do was think about how well things had turned out for upon joining Company Eight to feel a bit more confident.

Whatever happened today, she would okay. Acceptance was not her goal in speaking with Captain Burns about his connection to her. Cleansing and closure, ridding herself of more secrets to lighten her psychological burden were her goals. Perhaps her reasons were completely selfish, but those were the reasons nonetheless.

Phoenix did not want to stir up the man's ire. Captain Burns is a force to be reckoned with, legendarily powerful and powerfully ill tempered. Also a straightforward and crass - a man who did not mince words or spare feelings.

Her father seemed to have a lot in common with Benimaru Shinmon from what she had heard about him. She had no doubt she could handle him being somewhat familiar with the personality type, yet she was in no mood for a violent confrontation.

As she slipped her feet into her tall spiked heels, there was a timid knock on her door.

"Come in," she called, checking her make up one more time in the mirror.

Behind her, Shinra entered the room. Their eyes met in his reflection in the mirror and a smile broke across both of their worried faces. He stood by the door waiting as she turned like a ballerina on her thin heel. He shuffled from one foot to the other as she approached him, keeping his hands behind his back.

"You were gone when I woke up," he murmured, sounding sad.

"I'm sorry about that," Phoenix said, putting her arms around him to hug him.

But Shinra did not hug her in return. Dropping her arms, her heart sinking in her chest, she stepped back to gaze at him. Pulling his arm from around his back, he shoved the single flower he held clutched in his fist toward her.

"What - " she began, reaching for the yellow flower.

Mesmerized by the sight of the puffy flower the same color as the burning sun, she caressed the thin petals jutting out in all directions. They were smooth. soft as silk. Delicate under her fingertips.

"When I woke up without you, I decided to take a walk. I found this," he explained. "I know it's just a weed, but it was growing up through a crack in the sidewalk."

"It's pretty," she murmured, stroking the tiny perfect petals of the little flower. Despite being a weed, the gift was special - more so because of the giver rather than due to its own value.

"It made me think of you."

"Oh?" Her questioning eyes raised to meet his. "How so?"

He lay his hand against her cheek, softly stroking her skin with his thumb.

"This little flower, so beautiful and frail...but determined...grew and thrived where it seemed impossible for it to do so," he said, pulling her forward into his arms. "Just like you."

"Shinra," she sighed, tears of joy filling her eyes.

He held her securely in a bear hug, nuzzling her neck with his lips. He kissed her cheek, then her lips, a quick but affectionate kiss relaying his strong emotions in those brief seconds.

"Whatever happens today, you'll be fine," he assured her, not ready to let her go yet.

"I know. Because whatever happens, I still have you. I love you," she whispered, pressing her face into his t-shirt to dry the tears that streaked down her cheeks against her will. "I believe your mission is going to be far more dangerous than mine. Please be careful. You have to come home safe and sound. You have to come back to me."

"I will," he promised, kissing her forehead.

"Shinra!"Arthur called, his voice echoing from somewhere down the hall. "We need to go!"

"Damn," Shinra muttered irritably, reluctantly relinquishing her from his embrace. "I gotta - "

"Yeah, me too," she interrupted him.

Pressing her lips to his, allowing them to linger for several seconds, she expressed the love swelling inside her chest. Savoring the sensation of his lips pushing back against hers and sharing her sentiment, she sighed contentedly, happily. Stepping back, forcing herself to break away from him, she kept her eyes closed to stay in the moment, remain in their safe space just a little longer.

"Feeling better?" Shinra asked, taking a step back from her before he reached out for her again.

"Uh huh," Phoenix replied, opening her eyes.

"Shinra!" Arthur bellowed, sounding much closer.

Shinra held her gaze as he retreated out of her room.

"I'll see you later," he said, his back bumping into the wall across the hall.

She giggled. His face flushed a dark pink in embarrassment. He raised his hand, giving her a little wave. She waved back, doing her best to keep sadness from invading her smile.

"You most certainly will see me later."

~\./~


Phoenix stood in front of the tall double doors depicting the badge of Company One entirely in stained glass. Extending her hand, she turned the shiny brass doorknob and entered the administrative building that looked more like a massive church rather than an office building. A woman dressed in a nun's habit sat at the hulking and impressive curved mahogany desk located in the giant foyer straight ahead of her.

"Good morning. May I help you?" the young nun asked, her green eyes sparkling as she smiled.

Her friendliness set Phoenix a little more at ease. However, she still nervously gripped the files she carried in her hand which acted as her pretense for being here.

"I'm here to see Captain Burns. I have an appointment," she quickly added when the woman opened her mouth to speak without looking down at the open appointment book on the desk. "Phoenix, from Company Eight. Ten o'clock."

The nun scanned the page, easily finding her name on the line at the appointed time.

"Oh, yes, right here. Please have a seat. I will let Captain Burns know you are here," she said, getting up from her chair.

Phoenix quizzically glanced at the phone then back at the nun who smiled and scooted around the side of the gigantic piece of furniture to walk down the hall to his office instead. Shrugging her shoulders, deciding not to think too much about it, she pivoted on her heel to move toward the couch set against the wall.

"Phoenix?" someone called to her as she prepared to sit down.

Swinging her head both ways down the long passageway, she saw Karim Flam approaching from the opposite direction in which the administrative assistant had gone. She remained standing, smiling at him as he came closer.

"So nice to see you," he greeted her with a warmth that surprised her. "What are you doing here?"

"I was sent by Captain Obi to discuss a few things with your Captain," she said being as honest as possible. She had become adept at being truthful, but not sharing more information than necessary.

"Is everything okay? Is there something you need? Can I help?" he inquired, worry creeping into his usually emotionless sleepy looking eyes.

"Everything is fine," she assured him, waving the folders to brush aside his concern and to fan her steadily heating face as her anxiety surged. "Oh, I might as well warn you while you're here. Captain Obi is calling a meeting sometime soon. Since you act act as Captain Burn's proxy, I thought you should know."

"Things are getting serious with the White Clad?"

Anger seeped into his eyes. He still hated them for what they had done to Rekka. It was easier to blame them than the man himself for his atrocious actions. She understood that more than anyone.

"Yeah. I think we're getting close to something," she said. "Something big."

"What - "

"Miss?" the nun called from down the hall.

Both Karim and Phoenix halted their conversation and turned their attention to her.

"The Captain will see you now," she announced, motioning toward the open door to her right.

"Well, I better go," Phoenix said.

"Yeah, you don't want to keep the Captain waiting. Trust me," he added, raising his hand in a farewell. "See ya later."

"Yeah. See ya later."

Phoenix held the folders to her chest as if using them as a shield to protect her heart. Straightening her shoulders, she put one heavy foot in front of the other until she made the long walk down to the end of the hall.

With a smile and a nod to the secretary who guarded the door of her boss's office with a well-contained ferocity, Phoenix entered the room. Her breathing stopped as she made eye contact with the large, imposing man sitting behind the desk.

Captain Burns sat with his hands clasped into one big fist placed on top of the green blotter on his desk. His eye was the same shade of dark green but glittered like a jewel and exhibited the hardness of an emerald. That eye looked her up and down giving away no thought or emotion. His other eye, or lack thereof, was hidden behind a black eye patch.

His steel gray hair was slicked back against his large head, half pulled back into a ponytail and the rest streaming down way past the collar of his white button down shirt. A thin gray line of hair composed a beard from his sideburns.

Despite his sitting position, Phoenix still found the man to be intimidating, his stare bearing down on her as surely as if he stood over her glowering down at her disapprovingly. She suddenly became grateful she had not grown up with him as a father. Her uncle was a short, round pleasant man with a perpetual smile and liked giving lots of hugs. She doubted this man was capable of a single kind word much less loving physical affection.

"You're one of those people from the Eighth," Burns stated without bothering to greet her or even stand. Disdain had tainted the word "those" so intensely she felt physically stung.

"I am," she confirmed proudly, raising her nose into the air haughtily. Stepping forward, praying he did not see her wobble slightly on her shaky knees, she stood right in front of his desk. "What do you mean by those people?"

"Two of those people were sent here to my Company as spies. I don't appreciate that. What do you want?" he demanded of her.

"It was vitally important for those people find out what they could about the rash of Infernals that seemed to becoming an epidemic. If you had been more forthcoming with information, deceitful tactics would not have been necessary. We knew you were hiding something important. Would you have simply shared the information if we had come to you and asked?" she questioned him, doing her best to keep her voice neutral and to hide the anger bubbling inside of her.

"No," he answered curtly, his deep voice rumbling.

"Exactly," she snapped. "Going forward, we would like to open the lines of communication, to share information freely, openly, and honestly. Together we can stop these White Clads."

"So that's what you people are calling them?" he snorted, the corner of his mouth lifting in a smirk.

"Those people? You people?" she repeated acidly. "You are making us sound like the enemy. Aren't we all Fire Force members? Aren't we all trying to stop this plague of spontaneous human combustion?"

"What makes you think it can be stopped?" he challenged her, standing up from his desk.

The man inhaled a deep breath as he stood up. Phoenix would swear he became even more wide as he unfolded to his full height. He was gargantuan. Although a few inches shorter than her own captain, this man had a domineering air about him that instilled an awe born of fear and commanding respect.

Phoenix swallowed hard to push down the lump in her throat choking her. She opened her mouth to speak but could not find her voice. Clamping her mouth shut and swallowing once more, she parted her lips and tried again.

"It has to be to stopped," she croaked. "I have to believe this nightmare will end. I have to believe the White Clads...those religious zealots and their brainwashing nonsense can be stopped too."

"Why? Because of what happened to your mother?' he asked, placing his fists on his hips as he glared down at her from the other side of wide his desk.

Phoenix dropped the folders in her hands as they became cold and lost all feeling. The papers scattered all over the floor around her feet. The ball of emotions returned to her throat in an instant, choking her as she blinked back tears. This is why she did not want to come here.

"That is why you're really here, isn't it?" he demanded gruffly.

"How did you - "

"You look just like her," he replied, cutting off her whispered words. "I know who you are. The moment I saw you at the Captain's Conference I knew. You're my daughter."

Phoenix's knees dissolved sending her backwards and down into the leather chair which thankfully was positioned behind her.

"Why - "

"Why didn't I say anything?" For several seconds that felt like several hours, he glowered at her in silence. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"What was I supposed to say? Hello, I'm your daughter. Nice to meet you. Which it is not by the way," she muttered, lowering her eyes from the piercing gaze of his one eye punching a hole through her very soul.

"Oh, you've got your mother's smart mouth," he remarked bluntly. "I had no idea being a smart ass could be inherited."

"What was she like?" Phoenix boldly inquired, daring to look back up at him.

Before he could answer, the door to his office opened. The attentive administrative assistant hurried in carrying a tray with a teapot and two cups. There was also a plate of cookies.

Phoenix felt like a frightened child as she studied the sugar cookies with dollops of red jam in the middle. She hoped they were raspberry. Her inner voice took the time to admonish her considering the flavor of jam was a stupid thing to be thinking in this moment.

Silence reigned as the helpful assistant situated the tray in the middle of his desk. Without a word from her, she bustled back out and closed the door behind herself.

"I should go," Phoenix croaked, unsuccessfully attempting to stand to her feet.

"Stay seated," Captain Burns bid her, sitting down in his chair. "We are long overdue for a talk. Daughter."

The word hung in the air between them making the atmosphere even more stifling. She had not come here expecting a warm and fuzzy family reunion.

Actually, she had come here with no expectations at all except to be kicked out of his office. Her exit would be punctuated by him disavowing her mother and a complete denial of his being her father.

She certainly had not foreseen this development. Presently, she was still not sure if his willingness to converse about being her father was good or bad.

Captain Burns poured the tea from the delicate white pot decorated with small pink and red roses into the two matching cups. To be such a big man, he handled the fragile china with grace and ease.

He dropped two sugar cubes and a splash of cream into one cup. In the other, he added one sugar cube and a squeeze of lemon. After stirring both, he picked up the cup with sugar and lemon and extended it to her.

Phoenix stared at the cup, then her eyes flickered up to his face. How did he know?

A flash of disappointment surged through his green eyes dimming the brilliant color momentarily when she did not take the cup. It never crossed his mind she might simply be astonished by his thoughtfulness. He put the cup back down on the tray.

"Your mother liked her tea this way. Pardon the assumption," he said in a rather gruff apology which made it sound insincere.

Phoenix reached for the cup with shaking fingers. That was exactly how she took her tea.

"Thank you," she said, her voice thick and garbled. She cleared her throat. "I do like it this way."

The warm tea gave her the hydration she needed so desperately for her dry mouth and hopelessly clogged throat. Her deep gulps could be heard in the silence that ensued once more. Captain Burns patiently waited for to speak, sipping his own tea gingerly in the meantime.

"How did you meet my mother?" Phoenix asked when she finished her tea and felt she could speak clearly.

"Would you like some more tea?" he inquired, extending his hand for her cup.

"Please. How did you meet?" she repeated, placing the cup in his large palm.

His hands were smooth and warm, not what she expected. She had anticipated dry sandpaper palms. Rough and calloused not unlike his personality.

"We met at a pizza place," he replied candidly, pouring her tea.

"Seriously?" she scoffed, not believing him.

"Seriously," he replied, once again fixing her tea with sugar and lemon. "We were both in college. I was studying to be a priest. She was studying to be a scientist. Needless to say, we attended different schools. It was Friday night and we went to the pizza place where everyone liked to hang out after a week full of classes."

"I see," she murmured, taking the refilled cup offered to her. "That makes sense. Was it love at first sight?"

Captain Burns chuckled at her. Not derisively but with sincere parental amusement as if she were a small child who said something cute and funny.

"I suppose it was actually. One look and it was over for me. For her," he sighed, pausing to pour himself some more tea. "I don't think being in love with me came so quickly."

Did my mother ever fall in love with him?, Phoenix pondered to herself.

For a brief second she felt sorry for the brusque and immense man sitting in front of her. She stared into her cup to keep her thoughts hidden because she doubted the self-assured man would take kindly to pity.

When he had spoken, his voice had carried a tinge of sadness, possibly regret. It had never occurred to her that he might have gotten his heart broken. Did he feel remorse for ever knowing her mother?

From her mother's diary entries, Phoenix had learned her mother could be an excessively cold and calculating person, bypassing emotions in her pursuit of knowledge and her quest for scientific discovery.

Lifting her cup to her lips, she also lifted her eyes to carefully examine the man in front of her. Was he another emotional casualty left behind by her mother? Presently he appeared lost in his own thoughts, his eye downcast and staring into his cup.

Recently she had been re-reading her mother's personal diaries and work notes including a few reports she had never seen before which Viktor shared with her. Through her reading, she had begun to see her mother in a new and disturbing light which only maturity could bring.

The more she learned about her mother, the more disillusioned and upset she became. As a child, she had built up assumptions and hopeful fantasies about the woman she never knew. Those immature dreams, parental fairy tales of her own making, were being dispelled one by one.

Until relatively recently, she believed her mother was a warm, loving individual who had been a hapless victim of a laboratory accident. However, she was beginning to discover there might be something, a key piece of information she was missing, that would totally destroy everything she had once believed.

"Phoenix? Hey," Captain Burns said when her eyes cleared and focused on him. "Where did you go?"

"I was just thinking. I apologize," she returned, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"You're a lot like her," he noted after observing her behavior.

"Am I?"

"She used to drift off like that. She thought a lot. Too much really. She also did that hair thing when she was nervous."

"Did she ever love you at all?" she questioned him without the intention of being harsh.

Phoenix assumed Captain Burns is a man who liked to get to the point without wasting time on chit chat since he launched pretty quickly into the discussion about her mother. For quite a few uncomfortable seconds that felt like many minutes, he stared at her without saying anything. That single eye of his studied her closely with open curiosity and without betraying a single emotion. She prepared herself to be asked to leave. However, when he finally spoke his voice was much softer and even toned.

"She loved me. Eventually," he added, the briefest of smiles lifting the corners of his mouth before disappearing to be replaced with a pensive frown. "But it wasn't enough to make her forsake her first love. Science. She loved knowing things, learning things, making things. You were her greatest experiment."

"Yeah. I kinda figured," Phoenix mumbled, draining her cup. "The greatest experiment she never got to see the results of to further her research. Oh, I do hate it for her."

The words were spoken in controlled anger, pushed through her clenched teeth. Her rage and sarcasm thickened the air around them.

"But she loved you," Captain Burns added quickly.

"How would you know?" she questioned him pointedly. "Aren't you just saying that to make me feel better?"

His reticence gave her the answer. He was indeed being kind which shocked her and made her swiftly changing view of him shift to an even more positive opinion. Disappointment burned her eyes; disappointment that her mother was not the woman she wanted to believer her to be.

"I'm beginning to think she was cold and heartless...allowing her selfish desires to drive her to do terrible things," she stated, her voice warbling with emotion. "Even going as far as to sacrifice herself and her child in her need to understand Spontaneous Human Combustion."

"That was something else entirely."

"What?"

He shook his head. "We will discuss that another day."

That woman left him in a world of pain and confusion as well. Her mother had stated in her diary it was her choice to keep Phoenix a secret from her father, to keep him away from his child. However, despite her mother's efforts to keep her a secret, he found about his child at some point. When and how? Why didn't he claim her when he knew?

She stared at the man in front of her. That would have to be a discussion for yet another day as well. Her eyes stung and her throat ached from holding back the tide of tears.

Standing to her feet, Phoenix decided it was time to leave. She had endured enough emotional trauma for the day. The sadness in his eyes showed her that she was not the only one who had enough.

"I should go," she declared. "Thank you for your time, Captain Burns."

Phoenix took a step and heard the crunch of paper crinkling under her shoe. Looking down she saw the papers she had forgotten she dropped all over the floor.

Sighing heavily, she knelt down to scoop them up. Shuffling them into the folders haphazardly, she promised herself she would sort them as soon as she returned to the office. Tucking the folders under her arm, she rose and bowed to offer Captain Burns a proper good-bye. Upon straightening her back, she gasped to see him standing in front of her with a sheet of paper extended to her.

"I found this under my desk. I'm sure you will be missing this later," he said.

She would indeed miss it considering it was a page of one of the reports from the encounter at Company One with Rekka Hoshimiya. They were her guise for being here. Had this conversation not taken place, they would have discussed the Infernal Bug Incident. Taking the paper, she crammed it into one of the folders without looking at it.

"I'm sorry for wasting your time, Captain. Please forgive me," she begged him, bowing deeply in apology.

"You haven't wasted my time," he assured her. The corners of his mouth lifted ever so slightly into a small smile. "Actually, I'm glad you came. I have wanted to officially meet my daughter for quite some time."

"I'm happy to have been able to meet you too, Sir. Officially."

"I would like for you to come back again. We have a lot to talk about. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes, Sir," she replied, believing the question was not rhetorical and warranted an actual answer.

"I would like to get to know my daughter because I was not given the choice...until now. That is, if she wants to get to know me," he said, sounding quite humble and sincere.

Phoenix smiled at him as she looked up at the man towering far above her that almost imperceptible grin on his face.

"You're not at all like I thought you would be," she said, feeling quite relieved they had finally talked no matter how short the conversation.

"I assume that's a good thing," he returned, his smile widening slightly.

Although his features had softened a little including the expression in his eyes, he still maintained an air of intense self-assurance and being completely in control of the situation.

In the spirit of making amends, of building bridges between those perceived as family, Phoenix realized there was someone else with whom she needed to have a difficult conversation in an effort to rebuild a relationship.

"Well, I really must be going," she said, bowing to him once more.

"Whenever you're ready to visit, my door will be open to you."

~\./~


Phoenix walked past the guards at the gate of Fire Company Five without receiving so much as a questioning glance. On the way to Hibana's office, she encountered Tōru Kishiri. He leaned against the wall near the Captain's door, casually blowing bubbles with his gum as he cast a lazy glimpse at her with his half closed eyes.

"Busy holding up the wall today, Kishiri?" she asked him.

"Is there something you wanted, traitor?" he inquired bluntly.

Phoenix blew out a deep breath that devolved into an aggravated growl. She was sick of being called a traitor.

"Is Captain Hibana here?"

"Do you see her?" he retorted, glancing around.

"Look, asshole, I have something important to discuss with her," she snarled impatiently.

"She's not here," a voice behind her interceded before Kishiri could respond.

She turned to see the Lieutenant of the Fifth, Tokuyama, standing behind her. Before she could ask about Hibana's whereabouts, he helpfully provided the answer.

"She heard your boyfriend Shinra was going to Vulcan's place. She thought he might be in trouble so she took off about thirty minutes ago," he explained.

"Why did she think he might be in trouble?"

Phoenix wondered if Captain Hibana believed Shinra might really be in trouble or if it was just a pathetic excuse to go to his 'rescue' in order to get her hands on him. She had no idea.

~\./~


"Well, what do we have here?"

Princess Hibana stared down at Shinra lying on a stretcher made of stout tree limbs. His body had been strapped down under a blanket and bound with silver tape to the makeshift stretcher. The same thick tape had also been placed over his mouth to prevent him from calling for help. All the handiwork of the insidious Dr. Giovanni no doubt.

Shinra violently shook the stretcher holding him prisoner. Rocking it from side to side and even bouncing the entire thing off the ground in an effort to free himself, he continued to plea for help from the woman gazing down at him with a lusty smile on her face.

"I'm glad I planted that wire on Iris. It sounded like the three of you might be having quite a bit of difficulty so I thought I should come by and check it out. And look what I find," she cooed, walking around to stand at the side of the stretcher. "You're all tied up like a fabulous little present just for me."

Shinra strained against his bindings, furious and growing red in the face from anger. His eyes bulged in rage as his shouting remained muted behind the silver tape covering his mouth. He was growing even more irritated with her dilly dallying.

"I finally have you right where I want you. I am finding it difficult to do the right thing here, my darling. I'm thinking...trying to find a reason why I should let you go," she said, tapping her chin thoughtfully as she considered the young man in such a delightful state.

Shinra kept struggling and yelling, sweat from his useless efforts plastering his black hair to his forehead. At last Hibana reached down to rip the tape from his mouth rather viciously.

"OWIE!" he screamed in pain, fearing she had ripped his lips right off of his face. "Thanks, Captain Hibana! Please get me out of this! I need to get back to Vulcan's Workshop!"

"Relax, Shinra. I'm sure Arthur has everything under control. He's an idiot, but a strong idiot."

"I'm sure Arthur does not have everything under control. Captain Hibana, please..."

"Even if he doesn't, who cares?" she said, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm finally alone with you."

"I care! Now get me out of this!" Shinra bellowed nearing panic.

"Why should I? I have been given an incredible opportunity, and I would be a fool to waste it. "

"Huh?" he grunted, officially entering full panic mode. "Princess, please! Please let me go! I need to go help my friends! They're in serious danger from Dr. Giovanni."

"Yeah, yeah, keep your shirt on," she muttered, slowly unfastening the straps holding him down. "I know I'm going to regret this."

After she freed his arms and torso he sat up, revealing that he was shirtless under the blanket covering him.

"Oh, my," she gasped as he slid his legs from under the remaining straps. "You couldn't keep your shirt on, could you?"

"Thanks!" Shinra yelled without glancing at her as he took off running to get to his friends.

He ignited his flames, propelling himself upward at an angle and forward to bypass the forest and get to Vulcan's workshop faster.

Hibana watched him disappear over the trees. She sighed, hanging her head.

"Dammit," she moaned plaintively. "I knew I would regret letting him go."

~\./~


Phoenix did not know the location of Vulcan's Workshop. Returning to Company Eight's Fire Cathedral, she planned to get the information out of the man's file in her office

When she placed her hand on the front door handle, the clank and rumble of the garage door opening startled her. The squeal of tires on the slick cement garage floor sounded seconds before the small truck belonging to Viktor Licht rocketed out onto the street.

As she turned to watch the truck careen around the corner with a screech of tires and puff of smoke from burning rubber, the handle of the door was pulled out of her hand. Stunned into a gaping silence, she was snatched inside by Captain Akitaru Obi.

"Get in here," he ordered her, despite having already pulled her inside.

"What's happening? Where's Viktor going in such a hurry?' she asked as he dragged her down the hall.

"He's on a rescue mission," he responded flatly, his fingers tightening around her wrist as she jerked her arm to try to free herself.

"Rescue mission? To get Shinra and the others from Vulcan's place?!" she asked, her voice rising to hysterics. "Just how much trouble are they in?!"

She turned and lunged for the door, but his fingers were like a vise around her wrist. Her heels slid across the polished tiles with no resistance. Dammit! If only she had not waxed the floor yesterday she might have been able to get some traction.

"Captain! Please let me go!" she begged, pulling at his fingers. "I should - "

"No, you shouldn't," he interrupted her, pulling her into the office and closing the door behind them. "You're staying put. I've already got enough company members in danger. And you're the absolute worst about finding yourself in a precarious situation. I swear trouble follows you like a shadow."

"But, Sir," she tried to argue, rushing toward the door.

The man put his big body as formidable and immovable as a wall in front of the door to halt her. He folded his arms across his chest putting up another barrier in front of her. Glaring down at her, his body language and silence told her in no uncertain terms she would not be getting out of the door.

Phoenix glanced at the windows quickly trying to calculate which one she could run to, open, and fly out of before he could reach her.

"Don't even think about it," he said in a warning tone. "You're staying put and that's final. Besides, you should be here when Shinra returns, don't you think?"

"Yes, Sir."

Phoenix went to her desk and plopped down heavily into her chair. Slamming her wrecked files on the top of her desk, she decided there was no time like the present to fix them.

Captain Obi paced in front of the door flexing his biceps and forearms. He slid a sideways glance at his weights, then at Phoenix knowing if he dared to go over there to grab something to workout with she would be out the door like a shot.

"How much longer do you think Hinawa, Maki, and Tamaki will be?" she asked to further distract herself. "I'm sure they have no idea anything bad is happening."

"They should be back any minute now. I hope," he mumbled under his breath.

His face looked like the side of a mountain, hard and stony with lots of sharp edges emphasized by the tautness of the muscles underneath drawn tightly in worry. Only his jaw muscles moved, writhing under his skin as he worked them incessantly.

Phoenix decided to stay put and not become another source of anxiety for him. He was already putting himself under enough pressure feeling personally responsible for everything that happens to his subordinates. She could not imagine the emotional toll them being in danger was having on him due to his personal attachment to each member of his team.

"How did the meeting go with Captain Burns?" Obi questioned her.

"A lot better than I imagined. He actually brought up the issue first. I will be going to visit him again soon," she said, separating the papers into two separate stacks. "Sir?"

"Hmmm?"

"I think I'm beginning to hate my mother. She's not the person I thought she was...not the person I wanted her to be," she murmured, placing the papers in their proper folder.

"What do you mean?" he asked, his steps halting as he became interested in her words.

"I think she might have purposely allowed that bug to bite her. It's a bit extreme, but I think she was willing to sacrifice her life, and mine, all to find out exactly what the damn thing would do to her," she said, tapping the files on the desk to straighten the pages inside.

"Why would you think that?"

"Because of some of her reports that Viktor let me read."

"Hmmm," he muttered thoughtfully, scratching his chin. "Have you heard anything about the Avenging Angel?"

"The what?" she returned, standing up from her desk. "Is that something from those psychotic White Clads crazy religious beliefs?"

"You said you studied ancient world religions right? Do you remember an entity called the Archangel Michael?"

"Mmmm," she hummed opening the filing cabinet which shrieked angrily as metal grated against metal setting her teeth on edge. "As I recall, he was the highest angel, a being created by the Christian god to be the leader of the divine army. They also believed he would be the one to signal the beginning of the end with a trumpet and a shout. What does that have to do with the White Clads?"

"The Avenging Angel is pretty much the equivalent of Michael in the belief system of the White Clads. Their Angel is a direct servant of the Evangelist. This Avenging Angel will the one to go before them, declaring war on humanity...and bringing about the Second Great Cataclysm to cleanse the earth."

Phoenix sat back down at her desk. A heaviness developed in the pit of her stomach.

"Why are you telling me this?" she questioned him.

"As you know, Rekka Hoshimiya was purposely infecting people to find people compatible with an Adolla Burst. What if the White Clads find their Avenging Angel this way?"

"Wh-what?" she scoffed. "What are you saying? My mother believed she was the Avenging Angel? But she was a woman of science. I can't believe she would think such- "

"What if she wasn't always so scientifically minded? Or what if she met someone who changed her thoughts about such matters?" he asked her pointedly.

Phoenix stared at him, unable to form a coherent thought in her muddled brain. At last she croaked, "What are you saying? What did Hibana tell you that she never told me? What did she hide from me?"

"They believe the Angel is a direct descendant of Sol himself. This person will be born as a human to walk among us until their appointed time has come. The Avenging Angel will be found when that person is baptized by fire. When their human shell is burned away to reveal their true celestial identity," he explained.

"Baptized by fire how?"

"It would be fair to assume by turning them into an Infernal. What's the easiest way to do that?"

"No," she gasped, pressing her hands to her forehead and leaning her elbows on her desk to hold her head up. "You can't mean...no, she wouldn't. My mother was a woman of science," she repeated as if to remind herself, "not some silly, brainwashed religious fanatic. She would never believe some spiritual mythology purported by a bunch of kooks who just want to control people. She would never - "

"You're father was studying to be a priest when they met. Maybe she was trying to prove him wrong," he suggested. "Or maybe she was trying to prove him right. I don't know."

"Sir, are you trying to tell me my mother actually thought she might be the Avenging Angel because of something Captain Burns said to her?" Her voice reeked of incredulity. "You can't seriously expect me to believe - "

"No," he interrupted her sharply, his eyes hard as marbles as they caught hers. "Not her."

"Wha-"

"Captain!" Hinawa called. "We're back."

"Are you all right?" Captain Obi asked her as he unlocked the door.

"No. No, I'm not," she answered honestly. "Could I have a minute alone, please? I need...hell, I don't know what I need."

"I'm going to help them bring in the supplies. You won't run away will you?" he asked her bluntly.

"I'm not going anywhere," she assured him. She doubted her legs would support her anyway.

The telephone on the Captain's desk rang. Rather than getting up, she wheeled her chair over, pushing his chair out of the way in order to reach the phone.

"Hello, Company Eight, Captain Akitaru's desk, how may I help you?" she gushed in one rapid sentence.

"Phoenix?"

"Shinra?"

Relief flooded her to such an overwhelming degree she felt dizzy. He was okay. He had to be all right if he was making a phone call.

"Where are you?" she asked, her voice quivering.

"Company Six. The hospital. I'm okay," he swiftly followed up. "Just scrapes and bruises. Arthur's hurt pretty bad. There's also a kid named Yū who was shot while we were at Vulcan's Workshop."

"Is he going to be okay?" She did not know who Yū is but the concern in Shinra's voice made her worry about him nonetheless.

"He's in surgery at the moment so I'm not sure." He sighed heavily. He sounded as if his world was coming to an end. She knew the feeling. "Phoenix, I saw Shō. He's alive."

"That's great!" she exclaimed excitedly despite wondering why he did not sound happy about being reunited with his brother.

"He's Commander of the White Clads," he said to justify his lack of enthusiasm as if he could read her mind.

"He's what?"

"He's one of them. He called me...disgusting. He hated me," he mumbled sadly.

"Shinra, I'm coming to you," she said.

"I think it would be better if you stay there," he rejoined abruptly, allowing no room for argument. "Can I talk to the Captain?"

"Sure. I'll go get him," she said, hurt by his extremely fast refusal that sounded distinctly like an order.

"Hey, Phoenix."

"Yeah?"

"I love you," he said. "I want you to stay safe."

"I love you too. I'll go get the Captain."

~\./~


After her shower, still reeling and suffering from shock after the horrible possibility presented to her by Captain Obi, Phoenix went to the roof. The tent was still set up. Crawling inside, she lay down on the pallet, gathering Shinra's pillow to her body since she could not hug him. Inhaling his scent, she squeezed her eyes tightly closed to imagine him being there with her. She needed him.

Dammit it all. She had never needed someone so badly in all of her life.

Too overwhelmed to think, too tired to cry, Phoenix imagined being in his arms and drifted off to sleep.

~\./~


Hours later, Shinra crawled into the tent to join her. Exhausted, aching emotionally more so than physically, although his bumps and scrapes were pretty bad. Ignoring the soreness of his muscles, the tenderness of his bruises covering him from head to toe, he cuddled up beside her fitting his body to hers with his chest to her back. The beating of her heart pulsated straight through his chest. With each consecutive beat, the pulsing grew stronger, spreading throughout his torso and extending further toward his extremities as he held her.

"Honey, I'm home," he whispered in her ear, kissing her cheek.

"Shinra," she gasped, waking up from a dead sleep after hearing his words. "Shinra, where are you?"

She sounded disoriented and lost. Was she dreaming? Maybe she meant to ask where had he been. It did not matter.

"I'm here. I'm with you," he whispered in her ear, kissing her cheek. "Go back to sleep."

She exhaled noisily, turning her body in arms so she could face him. He could feel her clutching his t-shirt as she pressed her face into his neck after tucking her head under his chin.

"Do you want to talk?"

"No. I just want to be close to you. To hold you. That's all I want. Go back to sleep."

"Okay."

Her breathing quickly evened out becoming deep and steady again as she slid back into the world of dreams. The comforting staccato of her heartbeat permeated his body, soothing him. Soon he joined her in sleep, wanting to dream a good dream with her and about her.