Chapter 10
It had only been a couple of hours since she had spoken to Moby and retired to her room; when the knocking came, an incessant, insistent thumping against the door. She had tried to sleep as Moby had requested but simply could not find any rest.
Something was wrong. Something was triggering her internal alarms. Her times on solo trips as an assassin had left her with a hypersensitive sense of intuition when it came to threats on her own life. On occasion that was the only reason she returned alive; it was what had allowed her to act before Bruno Dante in the warehouse, and she had learned to trust it explicitly.
"Alexei, what is it?"
"You need to come with me. Christian's in there." Alex said swiftly.
"Damn it. Go get Moby." She responded, not bothering to close the door behind her as she past him into the hall. "Go get him now."
Alex turned and headed towards Moby's room to do as she said. She turned the corner and made her way swiftly back to the holding area.
Christian stepped forward in order to continue; when something shiny caught the light as it sailed past his nose. It hit the wall with a 'thwk' sound as it embedded itself in the concrete.
"That's enough, Christian." she interrupted, there was something sharp and cold in her quiet words. A few steps behind her, stood a man with sandy brown hair and amber eyes. He was not quite Ian's height and there was nervous tension in his stance. At the door was the man from earlier; Moby was carefully watching everything.
"It's only conversation." Christian remarked, "No need to rile yourself up over simple words."
"There's nothing simple about provocation, Christian. I know what you were trying to do here, and it was not going to work." she said, quietly. She ran her fingers over another long slender piece of metal in her hands. Christian watched her touch, almost caress the item while she watched him with those icy blue eyes.
"I have yet to do anything, Phoenix." Christian stated.
"Make sure you keep it that way, Christian."
"Is that an threat, dear Phoenix?
"No, of course not, Christian, It's a promise, one that I fully intend to see it through; that's precisely why no one wishes to be your accomplice in this particular act. They know better." she remarked, coldly.
"And so Alex went to fetch you, did he?" he asked, glancing at the sandy haired man.
"Alex did inform me, yes. He knows as well as you do the consequences of violating that particular rule." she answered.
"As far as I know, I haven't done anything. It's not violated unless I kill them. I can provoke them if I wish, as long as no harm comes to them." Christian said calmly.
"While that is technically true; I must strongly suggest that you do not provoke anyone. I've found that those who would; well, they tend to end up dead. One way or another." She remarked casually.
"Are you saying they can beat a Black Dragon? These inferiors?" Christian asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I never said that. I'm simply saying that those who provoke tend to wind up dead. That's all." She answered him.
"Thanks for the warning, Phoenix. I'll be sure to keep it in mind." Christian said.
"See that you do. That's the last one you'll be getting." She stated as he walked to the door.
"To show that I take your warning seriously, I'll leave first. But you should be careful about making promises you can't keep, Phoenix."
At that Christian walked out, and she moved quickly to follow him. Intending to go after him; but Moby caught her arm, stopping her at the door.
"Leave it be, Phoenix." Moby whispered.
"Let go." she hissed back at him; pulling away.
"Do not play into his hands, Shana, you know that is what he wants," Moby said softly.
"Fine. It's left. For now, Hector, only for now." she replied as she went out the door. Without any hesitation, Moby turned and followed her out into the corridor.
"Things certainly get intense when Phoenix is around, huh?" Alex asked, trying to diffuse the tense atmosphere in the room. Movement caught his eye from the cell, and Alex approached.
~What happened last night?~
As Alex took a moment to consider what was to be done in this situation, Phoenix asked him not to tell anyone, but he doubted that this was just anyone asking. In fact he'd been trying to decipher the whole of these events for a while now; while he had a good start with his own suspicions and the little Phoenix would tell him, it would be useful to know more about the situation.
"He wants to know what happened last night." the man in white said.
"Yes I know. I apologize that my silence caused you to think that I did not understand, all of us are able to understand ASL; among many other languages. Antonio, would you mind stepping outside?"
"Actually, I would. I wish to know as well. But I only want to know one thing and then I'll leave. Did Christian speak the truth? About what he did? 237?" Antonio asked pointedly.
"It is the truth." Alex answered, quietly. At that answer, Antonio spat several words in various languages before he stormed out. Alex winced as he turned back to the three in the cell.
"That's the general opinion of Christian's idea of a past-time; and precisely why she didn't want anyone else to know just yet. I know only what I saw and what she did tell me, I will share what I do know; but in return I would like to ask a few things of you." Alex stated. His response was a single nod.
"I should start with why I know what occurred last night, my name is Alex Crastonov and I am the field medic for this unit. I've seen and can recall every wound my comrades and I have taken; it's my responsibility to treat each one to the best of my abilities. Phoenix is one of the more difficult patients I have. She would be one of the last to actually call on me, you need to understand; usually Moby tells me to see to her. Often Dragon himself ordered her to let me. This time she asked for me; that alone told me it would be bad. I've seen plenty of wounds on my comrades, it's the nature of my duty; but this..." he paused.
"This was worse than I had seen before. Christian is a sadistic bastard with no remorse; and she is his current target of choice, maybe because she doesn't react the way he wants. Physical pain means nothing to her; it is only an annoyance to us, and can be ignored in favor of more pressing matters. It's an abomination to the rest of us that he can do such a thing to her. We won't act because she does not wish it, and she continues to ignore what he does. She simply refuses to act on something she sees as so insignificant."
~It is not insignificant.~
"You see things the way we do, however she sees it as such, because it only affects her. If it's only her then it doesn't matter, you see? It's when it starts to affect others that it changes; she cares little for her own life, it's been that way for a while now. Since she truly cares little for her own life, it's easy to sacrifice it for others, all she needs is a worthy cause in her mind. It's a frightening thought for the rest of us; that she would choose to do such a thing, especially when we consider her the best of us." Alex said.
~Why is it that way?~
"I'm a medic. I've seen all manner of wounds; the physical ones always heal with time, some to the point where you cannot see them unless you knew of them. In us those wounds heal much faster than normal; only serious or near fatal wounds can leave scars on us."
~Wounds inside are different.~
"So you do know about that. How much do you know?"
~I know that it exists. Not how or why it exists, only that it is there. The wound itself is too raw to bring up without causing more pain.~
"That sounds right. It's not something she can speak of easily. Out of respect we will not speak of what little that we know either. It is not our pain to own or to share. It's a burden she would much rather keep to herself; even if the weight of it crushes her." Alex stated.
"Initially I had several questions to ask you myself, but I find I only need the answer to one; because I already know the answers to the rest. Are you strong enough?" Alex asked.
~Strong enough for what?~
"To help her. To save her from the darkness that threatens to consume her. I hope you are because if something doesn't change soon; it will kill her."Alex said, direly as he walked out of the room.
When Alex stepped out of the room, he found Antonio standing outside in the hall again, looking much calmer than when he had stormed out.
"Did you get your answers?" Antonio asked, leaning against the wall.
"Yes, I actually ended up asking less questions than I thought I would have to in order to get them. In fact I only had to ask one." Alex stated.
"Really? I assumed it would take more than that. One question managed to satisfy your curiosity?" Antonio asked, uncertainly.
"No that question was not really answered, but it doesn't matter. All the answers I required were there in the context of the conversation and in Phoenix's words." Alex replied.
"So you didn't really get answers but you did get answers. That's unusual. And you're satisfied with that?" Antonio questioned.
"Yes, and unusual is quite normal for us. I learned all I needed to in order to be sure of Phoenix's choice." Alex said, confidently.
"Good. Now explain it to me, again." Antonio responded.
"There really is nothing to explain. Other then the fact that they are a lot alike, and he knows about Phoenix's wounds; the ones that cannot be healed."
"She told them that? Even though we know of it, she will not speak the details she knows to us." Antonio remarked, incredulously.
"She did not tell them; it's still something she cannot speak of easily. He knows it exists but not what caused it. You know as well as I do that the only ones who can sense such things are the ones who know a similar pain inside." Alex answered.
"I see. When you think about it, it makes perfect sense." Antonio said.
"Yes, it's only natural after all. People who are missing something are drawn to each other." Alex stated.
Phoenix made her way purposefully through the complex; Christian had sent for her and she was in no position to refuse. Right now he had all the leverage he needed in order to get what he wanted. He had already proved that he could do as he wished without any consideration for the deal. If Ian did not show soon; she would likely have to do this herself. It was not something she hadn't done before; but there were doubts.
It was not that Christian did not deserve death; that was already decided, and even if she wanted otherwise she couldn't change that. Her doubts all centered on what would happen if she failed this task. Failure was not an option here and now. This was why so many of her assignments had been solo missions; only her life had been risked, and that made it easier on her. Now a single false move could result in death, not just her own, but other's as well. Such things may not matter to the assassin; but it did to her.
The next moves were crucial; they could decide the ultimate outcome, she knew. Everything rested on what was to come.
tbc
A/N: R&R please. I appreciate any comments you might have on the story.