Chapter 9

Flint just lay there and watched her sleep. He didn't want to leave. Their time together was all too brief and he didn't want to waste a moment of it.

He got up carefully so he wouldn't wake her. Finding his pants, he reached in and took out the bug. He hated to do this, but this was part of why he was here. He had no choice but to follow orders. Placing it in what he hoped was an obscure, but safe location, he got dressed quickly. His flight back to headquarters was leaving soon.

He wasn't sure how to say goodbye. If he just snuck out, she'd hate him. Then again, she might not. He never knew what to expect from her anymore. From all the reports he had poured over about her over the years, he was continuously surprised by her actions. He had been surprised when he had been assigned to this detail, knowing that the CIA were well aware of his past history with her. Of course, they probably used that to their advantage, he thought wryly.

She stirred, and he turned to find her watching him. "Leaving already?" she said, her eyes purposefully blank.

"Yeah," he said, running his hand through his hair. He found his trademark beret and put it on. "My flight leaves in about 30 minutes. Enough time for me to get to the airport."

He stood there, just looking at her, at a loss for words.

"So, you were just going to leave, just like that?" She got up and put her robe on. He could tell by her movements that she was angry.

"Look," he said, getting angry himself. "This," he indicated the rumpled bed, "was not an indicator of anything."

"Oh, I get it," she said coldly, her eyes like ice. "You just needed a good lay before you left. Oh, no wait! I get it. Maybe this was part of your mission. Get her on her back and make sure you plant bugs in her apartment. Better yet, why not make it a great performance so you can amuse the boys back home as they listen in!" she spat out.

Marching over, she yanked the bug where he had hidden it and crushed it between her fingers. "Cheap junk. Sorry, Agent Faireborn, but bugs won't work in this building. It's the way it was constructed," she said sarcastically.

She threw the broken pieces at him. "So, what, let me guess…you can't trust me because you can't trust the Phoenix. Everyone else in the world can trust us, but not the high and mighty CIA! Hell, they can't even trust their own agents!"

She stalked over to her nightstand and yanked open the drawer. "Ok, Agent, you want something that no one else has on me? Fine, I'll show you something." She shoved a photograph in his face she had extracted from the drawer.

"Any time I have my doubts about what I'm doing, I look at this photo. So, tell me security expert, what do you see here?"

The photo was of a badly beaten body, stripped naked, the head covered with a towel. Cuts were oozing blood and several cuts were deep enough that they showed the muscle under the skin. Some areas of the skin had been burned, while others had been literally peeled away.

"This was the photo that was used as evidence at the Cobra trial," he said, glancing at her. "So? It was used to show what Mindbender did to his victims." He tossed it back at her. "So looking at a battered body turns you on?"

"You asshole!" she hissed. "Did you ever wonder why no name was ever given? They covered my face because they had specific orders to not mar my face, so that I would be recognizable. Everything else was fair game. Yes, that's me," she said to his horrified face. "I am the Phoenix in Phoenix Industries. I rose above what happened and here I am today."

Flint looked stunned. "But…you…." he gestured at her body.

She smirked. "It's amazing what money can buy in plastic surgery, skin grafts, and lasers, isn't it? So you can take that precious information back to your CIA and tell them that if they send me another agent to babysit," she said scathingly, "that they better be looking for a new job because I will use everything in my power to bring them up on so many charges, it'll make the Commander's trial look like child's play!"

With that, she glared at him, her voice icy. "Get out! I can't believe I let myself fall for this all over again. You had two years to contact me, two years," she said bitterly, "and yet you don't make contact until you are ordered to do so. You really are perfect for the CIA, you know that?"

She produced a gun and pointed it at him. "You have 10 seconds before I call my guards and have you locked away for assault. That is, if my finger doesn't get too twitchy and shoot you first," she said scathingly, pointing her weapon a little lower on his body.

Flint, still stunned by her revelation, quickly turned and walked away, out of her life.