A/N: I'm going to be cheesy again and thank all my reviewers and readers! This story has reached well over 1000 hits—and not all of them by me lol. So thank you for favoriting and reading and thank you to the lurkers! And thank you for all the encouraging reviews! I love them all. And a special thank you to reviewer Aka, for giving me the compliment of inspiration. What more does an author need for their ego than that? Am I getting a big head? Probably! I'm kidding. I'm still learning and growing. If I have anything to really complain about it's that FF filters out my double exclamation points. I hope you all enjoy this chapter... So much drama.

Rated: M

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. All characters and properties belong to their respective owners.

The sunset was fading rather quickly to me. I could already begin to make out a few stars.

I had been leaning against the balcony of my room, only wanting to enjoy the night breeze, and I breathed the cool air into my very being. Now, I found myself studying the sky, wondering if I had ever taken the time to even look at it before. I felt as though I had lost so much time. Missed out on so much of life. It was just something I'd have to learn to accept.

I was so tired…

My eyes went to my bandaged arm. The cleric here had done a good job of cleaning my wounds, and I was better for it. Afterward, Jade had somehow talked me into exploring the perimeter of this mansion, and I can't say now what our conversations consisted of. I had so much on my mind it was difficult to give her the attention she deserved.

Eventually I found myself alone, and wandered back here to my own quarters. I noticed the others finding things to do, or relaxing. As if we were going to stay in this place for a long while. As if we weren't soon to be engaged in a life-threatening battle. Any peace to be found here would be fleeting and pointless…

The door to my room burst open with a loud bang, and I turned abruptly to see a masked figure hurry inside and slam the door closed again. I quickly crossed the threshold, fists clenched, ready to attack my intruder- But- wasn't that…?

"Is that my uniform!" I exclaimed.

"Sub-Zero! You're here! Shit…"

"Johnny Cage? What do you think you're doing?" By the Elder Gods… The actor was actually wearing my Lin Kuei uniform—cowl and all. I was more confused than angry, but he was certainly lucky that I recognized him before I did anything harmful. Though now I would like to…

"Hehe, I thought you'd still be out or something…" He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"That's not an explanation," I growled.

Johnny raised his hands in a retreating gesture. "H-Hey, guess what, your clothes are ready!"

"So I see. But why are you wearing them?"

"Funny story…"

There were angry shouts coming from the hallway outside my door, and they were becoming steadily closer.

Johnny jumped, startled, and swiftly made his way over to my balcony. "Well, I gotta go!" he said. "I'll have someone send your clothes up later! Okay? Okay!" He made a move to jump over the railing.

"Johnny, wait!" I tried to reach for him but he leaped over the side and I could only look on as he fell and landed with a hard thud.

The idiot was fortunate that my room was only on the second floor.

I heard a muffled, "Ow…" and watched him crawl away into the shadows.

There wasn't much time for me to think about what had just happened, because in the next moment my door was kicked open by a very furious Scorpion. I sighed as I turned to face him, having already known it'd be him that would enter. Being able to sense the Netherrealm really was irritating.

I saw that the spectre's swords were drawn as he lowered the leg he'd used to kick my door with.

"Where is he?" Scorpion was shaking with anger. His whole presence filled up the room and I felt a migraine begin to swell in my head.

"Who?" I asked, annoyed.

"The loud mouth whose blood will soon be spilled!"

I rubbed at my temples with my hands. "He's gone," I said. There wasn't much point in lying. "What did he do, exactly?"

Scorpion's eyes seemed to glow a little brighter as he spoke. "He had me running all over this fucking place! He led me to believe that you were running from me... I caught him a few times but he kept getting away. And once when I pursued after him, that pathetic monk Kung Lao tripped me. They tried to make a fool of me. But I disposed of the monk easily and-"

I jerked my head towards him, alarmed. "You didn't kill him, did you?"

"No. I only rendered him unconscious." It almost sounded like he was pouting.

"Well, as long as he's not dead… You do know you cannot harm Johnny Cage. Even if he deserves it." I walked over to the small sofa in the center of room and sat down, massaging my hand over my eyes.

"I didn't realize it wasn't you at first," Scorpion admitted. "I thought you were trying to mock me. Preventing me from my duty. I will exact my revenge upon this Cage."

I snorted. His duty. The spectre was just an unwelcome nuisance.

"Listen, we must speak about that." I looked at him briefly to make sure he was paying attention. "I don't need your protection. Focus your energies elsewhere."

"It's not up to you," he spat, stepping closer. I had to look up at him now.

"Excuse me? Nobody asked you to make your 'vow'. Your presence is not wanted!"

"I must protect you to atone for what I have done. Whether you are willing to accept my help or not is of no matter."

I stood up again to face him. "You are mistaken, Scorpion. Your atonement is meaningless if I do not acknowledge it."

"This isn't about you," he ground out. "This is about honor!"

I was taken aback. That didn't make any sense to me. In order to regain some composure I turned away from the spectre and walked over to the balcony doorway. Leaning against the doorframe I crossed my arms and regarded this situation thoughtfully. How could I make him understand?

"I fail to see the difference," I said carefully.

"Of course. The Lin Kuei have no honor," he remarked coldly.

Hmph. Letting that one go for now.

"You're not even doing a good job. So why bother?" I held up my bandaged arm for emphasis.

Scorpion blinked and joined me near the balcony. He was staring out into the darkening sky. "I vowed to protect you so that you would not be killed. That is the ultimate goal. If you are harmed along the way, then so be it."

I glared at him even though he wasn't looking at me. There was a long silence between us, so when he spoke next it startled me.

"You could have easily defeated that monster in the woods," he uttered. Scorpion was still staring out, and missed my shocked expression. "And those Tarkatan thugs should have been nothing to you."

"What do you mean?"

"You gave up. I watched you."

My hackles rose instantly. "Fuck you, Scorpion. If I had any chance to defend myself, I would have. It's not exactly easy to defeat a beast ten times bigger than you while you're bleeding profusely."

He turned to regard me. "You're stronger than your friends. You're more powerful than even your brother was. You held back because you were afraid."

It was like a slap to the face. I fought very hard in the battle the night before. Perhaps I was unlucky or just overwhelmed, but my injuries were not because of my giving up. And I did not believe that I was stronger than my brother, though Raiden had mentioned it to me as well.

"Afraid of what?" I sneered, daring him to continue.

"You're afraid you'll become like him—your brother," said Scorpion. "And yet, you already are."

"I'm nothing like my brother!" I protested.

Thinking of Bi-Han in this way made my chest constrict with grief. All my life I had looked up to him. He was a legend amongst most Lin Kuei. But now I wanted to distance any part of him from myself. My brother was now a dark shadow of the man he used to be.

I wondered for a moment if Scorpion knew that my brother had become a wraith, not unlike himself. But if the Shirai Ryu did not mention it then I would not bring it up.

"You are becoming like him," Scorpion replied. "He had no regard for human life. And your apathy reflects that."

"Apathy?"

"Yes. You're not allowing yourself to feel completely. To use the despair as fuel for your rage. Not to pretend it isn't there, and yet sulk in it."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Trust me, I feel nothing but rage right now."

"Good. Perhaps now you'll get out of this depression and hone your abilities to their full potential."

"You don't know what you're talking about," I waved a hand at him dismissively. "My potential is at the highest it will ever reach. And my brother did respect and care about life." Even as I said those last words aloud I knew it was a lie. I may not have ever wanted to admit it to myself, but there was always an ever-creeping darkness in my brother's heart. Though I never considered him evil, he enjoyed killing in a way I never would.

But was that really his fault?

I realized too late of Scorpion's building fury. He was absolutely seething.

"I begged for my life!" he shouted, his voice was full of anguish and hatred. "Begged! Like a coward! Your precious brother laughed and mocked my pleas for mercy!" The spectre was advancing on me slowly and I backed away equally as slow into the room.

I had a sudden vision of a couple begging some Lin Kuei foot soldiers to spare their lives and not take their young sons from them.

"Scorpion," I spoke softly. "I understand. What my brother did was wrong, and cruel. But you cannot tell me that if you had gotten the upper hand during your fight that you would have not done the same to him."

His posture stiffened a bit, but at least he stopped coming towards me like he was preparing for a fight. I did not think I could handle that right now.

"You're wrong," he told me. "I would not have killed him, especially if I'd known he had a family."

I was assuming he meant me. The day I was told of my brother's murder was a tough one. It was one of the first few times in my life that I had felt truly alone.

"Not much of a family," I joked. It was a mistake to try and pick a fight with Scorpion. There was no point in arguing with a dead man, and one that had lost so much. I considered that he'd lost much more than I had, because he got to spend that time with his loved ones in a way I could only dream of.

Why had the fates decided that our pain should be so intertwined?

"I thought you were just like him at first," Scorpion said suddenly. "At the tournament when you challenged me. I thought you were a clone of your brother that did not deserve to live. But you are different. You have more humanity than most Lin Kuei I've met."

I suppose I'll take that as a compliment, I thought.

"Have you met many Lin Kuei?" I asked.

"A few. Your brother and I were rivals for a long time."

Hearing that made me sad. "I…didn't know he had killed you first. Bi-Han never mentioned you."

Scorpion merely shrugged. I guess that meant nothing now.

I sighed as I wondered just how much Bi-Han had kept from me. How many dark secrets did he lock away? My headache throbbed behind my eyes.

It was important to me now to clear any bad blood.

I hesitated nervously before I spoke. "I…I'm sorry. About your family."

Another irritating thing about the spectre was that if his expression wasn't twisted with anger, it was unreadable. Only being able to see his eyes didn't help. He stared at me - unblinking - for a minute or two.

"As I am sorry," he finally said. "About yours."

An awkward silence passed between us, but it was one of understanding.

I smiled good-naturedly. "I suppose I've avenged my brother anyway. When I defeated you during Mortal Kombat."

Scorpion 'Hmph'd' and looked away.

"And as for this matter with Johnny Cage," I continued. "I think you better let me handle it."

Scorpion tilted his head toward me, listening.

"It was my room that he snuck into, and my clothes that he stole." And his fault for this bizarre and frustrating evening.

"Fine," Scorpion relented. "Throw in a few punches in my honor."

"I'll handle Kung Lao, too," I said thoughtfully. "I'm sure he helped Johnny a lot."

"Good."

"So…are you going to leave now?"

"No."

"Damn it!"

"I made a vow!"

"You can't stay here!"

"Why not?"

I threw up my hands in exasperation. "Do you even sleep?"

"No…"

"Then what?" I asked. "You were just going to stand here all night and be creepy?"

"Creepy?"

"I don't need looking after like a child. And you said you'd only protect me from certain death. I doubt I'm in threat of that here." A horrible thought came to my mind. "Are you planning on following me around for the rest of my life?"

Scorpion became flustered. I assumed he hadn't thought this all the way through.

Finally alone, I let out a deep sigh of exhaustion. It had taken me another fifteen minutes, but I convinced Scorpion it'd be better for my mental well-being if he left.

Though he insisted on coming back in the morning…

Who knows what he'd do during the night. I didn't really care how he spent his time.

I made my way over to the cot the Outworlders here called a bed, and threw myself onto it. Hmm, perhaps I was a bit spoiled from living in the Lin Kuei temple. We had many luxuries most others did not.

I was lucky to have a bed here to my own at all.

That night I didn't dream, but there was a new clarity and lightness in my soul.