Hello everyone! Chapter 11 is here! I meant to update sooner, but things have been a bit busy for me lately. Sorry about that! As always, I really appreciate everyone's reviews and interest in this story. Thanks! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters. They are all property of Namco.

If she had known that she'd receive the royal treatment and pampering at the hospital, then she would have made it a habit to always report there for minor injuries. Of course for most, cracked ribs, some internal bleeding, and a mild concussion weren't minor wounds, but due to her high tolerance to pain, it was a cakewalk. She had been in the hospital for a few days to recover from that soul shattering punch she had received from Fury, but with plenty of bed rest and the right combination of meds she felt brand new. She wanted to leave much sooner, but the staff was under strict orders to make sure she didn't move until they had clearance from the big boss.

Nina sat comfortably in her hospital bed with a pale blue hospital gown with a gray zip up hoodie covering her shoulders to keep herself warm in the sometimes chilly hospital room. The first day she had come to, she was surprised at how many colorful, decorative flowers with get well soon cards she had received. Did this many people actually care about her well being? She didn't dwell on it for too long, but she supposed that it was a nice gesture.

She looked over to the windows as the bright sunlight seeped into room and wondered what the day would go for her. Hopefully, she would be able to leave the hospital and return to headquarters. She was grateful to spend most of the week resting, but too much rest made her feel anxious. Too bad she didn't have any books or something to do to preoccupy her time besides sleeping and flipping through crappy television shows all day.

A light knock came at her door, and she granted the person entry into the room. As the door opened, the first thing she saw was a colorful bouquet of flowers. A tall man stepped in with a smile. "Hey, lady," he said as he stepped in and approached her bedside. "You're looking well today. I guess it takes a lot to take you out completely."

A little smile appeared on her face as she looked up at her visitor. "Eddy, I didn't think you'd be back in town. Are you the culprit that's been bringing in all these flowers?" she asked jokingly.

Eddy took a look around. "Damn, I guess you have a fan club, " he remarked as he set his flowers on the table amongst the others. "Well, here's another to add to the collection."

"Thanks," she replied with a half smile. "So, how have you been?"

Eddy chuckled a little. "You're the one laid up in the hospital after fighting a crazy cyborg and you're asking how I'm doing? You're a tough one all right," the Brazilian man paused with a shake of his head. "I'm doing fine, I guess. I just got back from some mission in Egypt."

Nina narrowed her eyes slightly at this. "Egypt? What were you doing there?" she inquired. 'I've been out of commission for a few days and I feel like I've missed so much,' she thought to herself.

Eddy shrugged and folded his arms. "The hell if I know. It's not like Jin tells me anything about what he's planning. I guess I've been subbing for you since you've been on bed rest," he elucidated to the blonde woman. "He just wanted to get a look at this temple, then he left."

She was utterly confused, but once she was discharged she'd be sure to get some answers from him. 'Well, at least he actually made it this time, but I wonder what's going on now? Is he hearing that voice again?' she pondered.

Eddy saw that she was lost in thought at the moment and idly shifted his gaze to the flowers again. He knew that she knew something, but being as secretive as their employer, he knew that she'd never tell him anything. He looked at some of the cards in the flowers with a little smirk. "Seems like the guys in the unit you commanded sent you some of these, but most of them are from Jin," he revealed.

Her eyes moved over to the flowers as well with a little surprise in them. "Jin? He visited?" she asked in confusion.

"He probably had them delivered," he said as he stared at her in a mysterious fashion.

Nina shook her head and little. "What's with that look, Eddy?" she pressed the man with a curious brow raised. Whatever he was thinking, he'd better erase it from his mind completely. She knew this would happen, eventually. It never failed, working under high profile men always came with various speculations and rumors.

Eddy shrugged again. "What? Nothing, I didn't know I had a look," he said defensively as he lifted his wrist and looked at his watch. "I better report back to my base and resume business as usual. Get well soon, Nina," the tall, dark man shot her a thin smile before taking his leave.

She watched him leave and wondered what was going on with him. 'Sorry, Eddy, I wish I could tell you the truth, but I'm sworn to secrecy...even if you knew, would you really believe all of this?' she thought. She sighed to herself as she reached for the small remote and switched on the television to pass the time. She flipped through several channels in boredom. From game shows, talk shows, cooking shows, and soap operas, nothing interested her, but she finally settled on watching the news. The news was always so depressing, but as a realist, she always preferred to hear the cold, hard truth. After watching a few segments about traffic reports, weather, and sports, she almost turned the television off until something caught her interest.

'Watch the most exclusive interview of the year with acclaimed journalist Mao Takanori as she speaks to the man behind the monster. Watch as she sits down with the man behind G Corporation and the father of the tyrant behind the Mishima Zaibatsu, Kazuya Mishima.'

Her eyes widened slightly as she watched images of Kazuya flash across the TV screen. "What fresh hell is this...?" she muttered to herself in disbelief.

'Don't miss this groundbreaking interview airing on 50/50 this week.'

Nina shook her head. Since when did Kazuya seek to insert himself into the limelight? What was he hoping to gain by doing this silly interview? 'I wonder how Jin is going to react to this. He'll definitely be displeased, but then again who knows? I bet that whore is behind this...there's no way Kazuya would do this alone,' she thought as she rubbed her temples in frustration. She leaned back into her bed and rested her head on the pillow as she closed her eyes. Maybe she would call the nurse again to give her something to help her rest. Since she had nothing else to do, she might as well sleep.

"Isn't there anything you can do? I mean, something isn't right with her...I'm worried."

She secretly listened to the woman on the phone. She didn't trust her.

"You said give it some time and things would get better, but it's getting worse and I can't help her."

All of her phone calls were to that strange man. She didn't trust him either.

"I'm not even sure she's still in there. Nothing is helping. I can't do this anymore..."

After the call ended, a brunette woman emerged from the bed room, wiping the dampness from her eyes.

The blonde stood in the kitchen with her back turned to her as she chopped up vegetables at the counter. She ignored the other presence as she chopped away on the cutting board.

The brunette rushed to the other woman nervously and frantically. "What are you doing? I told you not to touch the knives anymore! If you want something to eat, I'll cook, okay?" she reasoned.

The blonde ignored her and resumed cutting up the vegetables. She didn't remember if she enjoyed cooking or not, but something about holding a knife just felt right.

The other woman held out her hand with her brows furrowed in worry. "Give me the knife...it's too dangerous for you to use. Did you take your medicine yet?"

The medicine? She'd like that, wouldn't she? She was always much easier for her to boss around after she took her medicine. "No," she replied dully. The chopping noises became louder.

"Hand it over!"

"No."

"Stop cutting before you hurt yourself again!" she cried out angrily as she attempted to reach for her arm to stop her.

"No, don't touch me!" the blonde yelled. In a quick flash of anger, she saw red. The red dripped onto the floor, little droplets hit the white tiles and created small, crimson splatters. She stared at them blankly as the shrill cries of the woman filled the air. The red. Something was oddly familiar about looking at it, it just felt right.

The blonde woman jolted from her slumber with a slight start. She moaned as she slowly brought a pale hand up to her face. Her body felt tired and she felt drowsy. When she asked for a sleeping aid, she didn't think they'd give her such a powerful dose. 'That dream...was that a dream...or a memory? I can never tell the difference anymore.' She cradled her head in her palm to shake away those cryptic images from her mind.

"Bad dream?" a deep voice reverberated in the room.

A small gasp rushed from her lips as her eyes snapped towards her intruder. She was shocked to see him here. "Alexandersson? What are you doing here?" she asked tiredly with narrowed eyes. What time was it? Why was the hospital still allowing visitors? The room was now dimly lit since it was sundown. She had been out for almost the entire day.

The decorated soldier was leaning against a wall with his arms folded across his chest. He was dressed in his elaborate Tekken Force uniform and his face held a certain sternness as he glared in her direction. He took a few steps towards her and said, "It seems your latest work has generated quite the buzz. I guess I came to see if you were in one piece considering the battle you survived."

What a crock of shit! She knew he had an ulterior motive besides dropping by to shoot the breeze. Was he there to take her out when he presumed her to be weak and vulnerable? Even in her state, she could think of at least five ways to swiftly execute him if he tried anything funny. "The boys do talk a lot, don't they? They just gab like old ladies on bingo night when no one's around," she said snarkily. She never had bad blood with the Swedish man, but hearing about how he and a few other soldiers were giving Eddy a hard time and how they all gossiped like little schoolgirls was enough to put him on her shit list.

She was always so short with him. He wondered what he had done to suffer her wrath constantly. "I have no bad intentions...I just have some questions," he stated sincerely. "Things are getting tense with this impending war on the horizon. If there's anyone who can get through to Jin, it's you."

Nina shook her head. It seems like everyone was trying to pick her brain for information these days. She continued to glare at the blond man silently. She was too drowsy to deal with this nonsense. If Prince Valiant wanted to stop the war, then he should go talk to Jin himself. Although she was his bodyguard, that didn't mean she had to constantly be the buffer between him and everyone else. Well, perhaps it did, but she was getting a little annoyed with people assuming that she knew everything he was thinking all the time. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but it's not as it seems. I'm just a pawn in this, just like you, and I'm just following orders, as should you," she warned with a stone face.

His mouth pulled into a scowl as he clenched his fist in front of him. "If you don't make the effort to stop him innocent people will die," he pled as he approached closer to her bedside. "Will you be able to sleep at night knowing that your indifference caused the deaths of innumerable innocent people?"

Nina smirked at his heartfelt plea. He was so bright eyed and bushy tailed and obviously ignorant about who she was. Jin was dead set on this and he had a good reason behind all of his shrouded plans. There was a method to his madness. "I will sleep well regardless if this war escalates or not," she said coldly as she pierced his blue eyes with hers. "Now, I'm very tired, so please leave me in peace," she requested coolly as she continued to glare at him icily.

Lars shook his head at her cruel words. He wanted her to see things his way and come to her senses, but she was too far under Jin's influence to be reasonable. Perhaps he entrapped her into his madness with promises of power and riches. He took one final look at the blonde assassin before turning away from her and walking towards the door. He paused in his step and said, "If you have no remorse for your actions, then you're a monster, just like him," he finished as he opened the door.

After he left the room, to his surprise, the topic of their conversation leaned against the wall casually with his arms folded across his chest. His face was cold and unreadable as usual, especially since his sharp, dark bangs assisted in concealing his expression. The captain's breath hitched in his throat when the enigmatic young man turned his head to him slowly with a stoic expression. Had he not been the brave fighter that he was, he would most certainly have ice coursing through his veins. His face tightened and he offered the CEO a reluctant salute before he walked down the hall.

Jin entered the hospital room quietly and his eyes immediately fell upon the blonde laying in the bed. Her palm was covering her face and he wondered if her previous visitor had caused her any stress. "How are you feeling?" he asked calmly as he approached her bedside. She lowered her hand and looked up at him with a tired smile. Her blonde hair fell over her shoulders loosely and she looked relaxed, and compared to last time he had seen her, she looked to be in much better condition.

Nina wondered how long he had been lurking in the hall and eavesdropping on her conversation. Was he upset about anything he overheard? His facial expression was unreadable, but she had learned to read his emotions through his eyes. He seemed strangely at ease. "I'm fine. What really brings you here this late? Are you here to harass me too?"

He didn't care about Lars' contempt for him, or any one else's for that matter. Their thoughts and opinions were nothing to him. Soon, everything would be in full effect and nothing else would matter. "I came to see if you were all right," he spoke as he observed her. "You won't be discharged until I sign you out." He looked down at her with a smug look.

She took notice of that smug smile on his lips and she nearly rolled her eyes. The doctors and staff kept reminding her of that fact every time she requested to leave. He must've enjoyed having that power over her. "So, what do I have to do in order for you to let me out of here?" she asked in a playfully sultry voice with a smug smile of her own. What kind of game was he playing?

Jin stared into her cerulean eyes for a moment before blinking to break free from their lure. She was a siren, and at times he felt like he would succumb to her if he wasn't cautious. The feel of her lips still lingered on his, even as the days passed. He had to focus. "I'll let you return to headquarters if..." he trailed off as he stared at her intently with his dark eyes.

Nina narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously as he stared at her strangely. Was he attempting to get fresh with her once again? Since when did he become so bold? "If what?" she questioned, urging him to continue.

He looked down at the woman and smirked as she looked at him with her fierce gaze. He was amused, and he always enjoyed seeing her befuddled or flustered. "Well, if you give me three valid reasons not to fire you for your insubordination, then I'll consider it," he proposed.

"You've got to be kidding me?" she said in disbelief. Was he honestly still going to go through with this 'punishment' of his? He was persistent.

He reached into the pocket of his slacks and placed her cell phone on the bed. "You breached your contract by not having your phone on you at all times, you disobeyed my direct orders, and you deceived my secret service," he relayed to her casually. "Now, give me three valid reasons," he demanded. He watched as she averted her eyes from him and folded her arms across her chest like a child being grounded.

Nina pursed her lips at this nonsense. Why wouldn't he just let it go? He was being completely ridiculous. Sometimes she had to remind herself of her paycheck to prevent herself from unleashing all hell on the young man. Normally, she didn't take this kind of crap from anyone, but for some reason she had made several exceptions for Jin. "Maybe next time you should just pay anyone who comes after you a half of million dollars," she ridiculed. Her tone was coated heavily in sarcasm as she chastised him.

Of course, this was the response he initially anticipated. He knew that such an obstinate woman wouldn't be so easily swayed. He shook his head at her response and bored his dark eyes into hers. "Very well then," he said as he turned away from her and began walking away. "I suppose I'll return when you're taking this seriously."

"Wait!" she called out to him as she sat up fully in her bed. She didn't want to play his little game, but she also didn't want to stay there any longer with her morphine dreams and utter restlessness. She nearly exhaled in relief when he stopped and turned around to face her again. "Okay, I'm...sorry," she said apologetically.

That was a start. He knew she'd come around sooner or later. "Go on," he ordered.

She sighed as she closed her eyes to think long and hard about her answer to him. Why must he make this so difficult? "One, you need me for my unique set of skills to assist you in this war; two, I've pledged to help you achieve your goals, and I honestly want to help you and keep you safe until this is over, " she spoke, in a sincere tone this time. "And three, I realized how silly I was to go against your orders, and I'm sorry for betraying your trust."

Jin listened to her words carefully and reflected on them deeply. Truthfully, it would take a lot more than her not following one order for him to fire her, in fact, he knew he couldn't because he needed her more than she actually needed this job. She'd find work with another client in a heartbeat, but he'd have a hell of a hard time finding someone with her elite skills and moral neutrality to carry out his plans. Her services were worth every penny. Somehow, he liked hearing her say those words because he secretly needed the reassurance that she wouldn't leave him if things became too crazy and chaotic. That's why he tried so hard to keep control of himself so that she'd never have to meet that monster. That would surely drive her away. He approached her bedside again with a relieved look on his features.

"Good," he simply said before he placed his hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her back onto the bed. "Get more rest, and I'll come for you in the morning." She seemed to be in awe of his actions, but he disregarded it as he turned to leave again.

What a strange man. She had met some eccentric people in her lifetime, but Jin was in an unique category of his own. What was that all about? "Jin, wait," she called out to him and watched as he paused before leaving her room. "I never thanked you for the flowers." He stopped for a second and gave her a quick glance. He smiled thinly before leaving the room.

Because of the bad dreams and temperamental visitors, she had completely let the important issues slip from her mind, such as his trip to Egypt, Lars' suspicious behavior, and Kazuya's publicity stunt. Well, she supposed when she resumed her daily routine at the office she'd have a meeting with Jin to discuss all of these things. As her head melted into the pillow, she figured she'd attempt to sleep once again, hopefully without any haunting dreams. She closed her eyes and sighed. 'Anna...I was really a monster to you back then...I definitely wasn't myself.'

I decided to shorten this chapter since the previous was was long. Chapter 12 coming soon! Thanks for reading! R&R