A/N: Sonya's up! This is kind of a short chapter. I wish I could be more consistent, lol. Thank you so much to Subterranean Stepdancer, Nerdette92, YoshisSupport(that would have been awesome hehe), Zee a, MailxJeevasxFTW, and Snivy Terphione. Your reviews mean a lot to me! Especially that you took the time to do so after I took so long to update. Thank you lurkers, as well~

Rated: M

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

"Sub-Zero!" I half-jogged, and half-stumbled my way after him in the hallway. I mentally cursed the high-heels I had decided to wear earlier today when I thought they were cute. "Wait up. I need to talk to you."

He turned and stopped in his tracks, patiently waiting for me to catch up. The hallway itself was long and wide, with several stony pillars to hold up the ceiling above us. I never imagined I'd ever set foot inside a castle, and I almost wished my parents were here to see it. And my brother…

A strand of hair fell over my eyes and I blew it off my face with a puff of breath. "What the hell is wrong with you?" I said as I stopped in front of him.

If I was expecting a stronger reaction—I was sadly disappointed. The ninja merely arched an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?" he replied coolly.

I didn't care what Johnny said. This whole thing with Scorpion was aggravating me. And I couldn't understand how Sub-Zero could forgive his brother's killer so easily.

"You know what I mean." I folded my arms over my chest. "How can you be friends with that guy?"

For a moment I thought he was going to ask me which guy. But he knew by now who I could and couldn't stand. I've always been an upfront kind of person.

"Tentative," he answered.

Huh? I blinked dumbly. "What the fuck does that mean?"

"We're tentative friends." He smirked. "Nothing's set in stone."

"I'm being serious here. You're the only one that seems to want the guy around and you have the least amount of reason to."

"But I have reasons."

"Okay. Then I'd like to hear them."

Sub-Zero closed his eyes. "I don't have time for this, Sonya."

Ass. He wasn't getting off so easy. "Uh, time is all we have here."

He opened his eyes, and this time they were full of anger. "It doesn't concern you."

"Bullshit it doesn't." If Scorpion sold us out or decided to murder us all in our sleep then it greatly concerned me. "He shouldn't even be here."

"Your boyfriend seems to disagree."

I felt my face turn red. Johnny wasn't my boyfriend. I mean we—maybe someday we could—that didn't mean— "He's not my boyfriend!"

Sub-Zero's blue eyes were icy cold. "Bullshit."

"We're not talking about him," I snapped.

"You pretend to be such an honest person, but you hide your true emotions more than the others," he said, his tone was filled with venom. I hadn't thought this conversation was going to be so hard.

"That's not true! You want me to be honest?" I had no problem with that. Not at all. "Fine. I like Johnny. A lot. He's a good guy. He can be obnoxious at times, but he didn't kill someone in my family."

Sub-Zero growled. "I'm not going to talk about that. Let me be honest with you, woman. As far as I can tell you seem to be the only one who has any real problem with Scorpion. He's a man of honor, who's lost just as much – if not more – than any of us. I see nothing wrong with trying to help him. He's been dead for a long time…"

"He killed your brother!" I blurted. Didn't that mean anything?

"Yes. And my brother killed him first."

"Oh, so that makes it okay then?"

"No, of course not."

"Then help me understand. Why aren't you ripping his throat out? Snapping his neck? I don't get it!"

Sub-Zero let out an exasperated sigh. "You'll never understand. But believe me, months ago nothing would have made me happier."

"So what changed it? Just because he made a vow to protect you? I'm sure if he had to kill you to get his family back he wouldn't hesitate."

"He would never hurt me."

I shook my head. "I don't believe it. And by the way, it puts all of us in danger having him here."

"I don't see how," Sub-Zero snorted. "He doesn't care enough about any of you to hurt you."

"Well, isn't that reassuring."

"He has a bad reputation, to be certain. But he's not a monster."

I rolled my eyes. "Tell that to his victims right before they died."

"I'm a killer, too," he reminded me. "We all are."

"That's different."

"It's not," he insisted. "I killed for money not even a year ago. In actuality the Shirai Ryu had more honor and loyalty than the Lin Kuei did. I was just blind to it."

I didn't want to think about that too closely. Sub-Zero seemed like such a respectable guy to me. "I wonder what your brother would think of you now."

Sub-Zero's face darkened, and for a second I thought he might punch me or something. I could feel he wanted to.

Instead he turned his back on me. "It doesn't matter. He's dead."

He started to walk away but I easily did a flip over him, blocking his path. I met his eyes slowly. "I lost a brother, too."

Sub-Zero regarded me silently, and when he spoke again his tone was gentler. "I'm sorry for your loss. But Scorpion is no Kano."

My throat tightened and I had to look away for a second. "Someday I hope I get the same opportunity for vengeance that you had."

"Maybe someday you will."

I looked at him. I didn't mean to get so angry. But I thought Sub-Zero was being stupid. "I just don't see this ending well."

"Lord Raiden seemed to think it was a good idea to have Scorpion on our side."

"But is he really on our side? Or his? Or just yours?"

Sub-Zero smiled sadly and shrugged. "I know you don't understand, but I can't explain it. I do enjoy Scorpion's company – most of the time – but it's more than that. We're connected somehow. Maybe it's just our fate to have our lives so interlocked, but either way we're connected. And I don't see that changing any time soon."

A sudden idea popped into my head. Something I hadn't thought about before.

The way Sub-Zero talked about Scorpion… The way he looked at him…

I could feel the corners of my mouth curl into a sly smile. Sub-Zero looked at me quizzically.

"What?" he asked. I had to laugh. He looked so cute when he was confused.

He stared at me suspiciously and started to lean away. I didn't want to tell him about what I was thinking. That would just get him all riled up again.

"It's nothing," I said. "Listen, I know I probably pissed you off before, but I haven't changed my mind."

"About Scorpion?"

I nodded.

Sub-Zero shrugged again. "I'm sure if you stay out of his way, he'll stay out of yours."

"You never really gave me an answer," I pointed out. "What changed your mind about him?"

He thought about it. "I'm not completely sure, really. I suppose I could see some of myself in him. He was never truly evil. And he didn't deserve what Quan Chi did to him."

"You feel sorry for him, don't you?" I already knew it was more than that.

"No, no! Not at all!" He flailed his arms about in denial. "Don't let him hear you say that."

I laughed again. "All right."

A couple of servants passed us by, glancing at us nervously, and I did my best to appear friendly.

"Are we done here?" Sub-Zero looked a little put-out.

"Yeah," I replied, still grinning. I did feel better. But I wouldn't be chatting it up with Scorpion any time in the near future. He still gave me the creeps. I just couldn't trust him. And I always follow my instincts.

Sub-Zero returned my smile and began walking down the hallway again. I watched him leave; he left me with a lot to think about.

"Should I come to you for advice in other aspects of my life?" he called over his shoulder, keeping his stride. "Perhaps I'll come to you in the mornings to make sure I'm dressed properly. Or so you can condone my choice of breakfast."

Ah! That jerk!

"I condone nothing!" I yelled after him.

I could hear him chuckle and after he was gone I continued to stand there for a while. There were so many thoughts tumbling around in my head. I didn't know how to feel about most of them. Thinking about my brother made me sad, too. I hated it.

What I really needed was some time to myself. I really liked Johnny, but I didn't feel like being with him right now. And if I went back to my room I might not be alone there either. Kitana had the brilliant idea to bunk me in with Jade, so I'd have a familiar face, and so I wouldn't be stuck with the boys.

I guess she couldn't know that I was used to that. I was one of the few female soldiers in my unit.

Finally I decided on the best place to sit and be alone with my thoughts. Some place I knew the others would never think to look.

I sighed tiredly as I made my way toward the castle's library.

A/N: Well, that could have been a lot worse, I guess. Sub-Zero's turn again next chap! Thank you for reading. :)