A/N: Just a short one today.

Chapter 11

Christian smiled as he set aside the liquid filled syringe he had been preparing. On the table next to the syringe was his favorite whip; the light glinted off the sharpened metal barbs woven into the leather. He knew that she would come here to this room even if everything inside of her screamed not to; in her current position she would not have a choice.

The current her cared too much for those inferiors in the holding cell; if she would just let go of her illusion of humanity, she may be able to come out of this unscathed. The assassin in her; the past her, would easily be able to finish this without hesitation. As she was now; she'd never be able to kill him, not while she let her emotions rule her.

'Emotions. Compassion. Affection. Attachment. Those were all signs of weakness. Signs of dependency. Those bonds only served to tie her down. There were much more dangerous reasons why these weaknesses should not be allowed.' Christian knew as he was exploiting one of them. Through the threat to them, Phoenix could be made to do anything.

He glanced up as she entered; noting the black pants that were regulation for the Black Dragons and the pale blue shirt that was not. She was an elemental creature, a force of nature that would have no man master her. Only a god could control her; Christian wanted to be that god.

He saw her watching him with those blue green eyes; giving him that look, the one he hated. Those eyes that looked right through him; they pierced the soul, and knowing everything about him. There was treachery in those eyes; the kind that said if she could risk it at this very moment, she would desperately love to see him dead.

"You wanted something?" she asked, calmly. Her tone was cool, lacking any form of emotion.

"I know you don't want to be here. This room makes you uncomfortable, doesn't it?" he asked.

"It's inconsequential. What did you want?" she asked again. She glanced at his table; anger and defiance mixed in her now icy blue eyes.

"I'm willing to cut you a deal; much better than your first one. I'll let you wash your hands of this whole thing and walk away. You don't have to kill Irons, or fight Ian; you can just walk away."

"What price will I pay in order to leave here, Christian? I'm no fool, I know very well that there's a catch to your offer." she responded.

"Sever the bonds, Phoenix. You can walk away, but only you alone. Those three inferiors will have to stay and I will do as I wish with them. All you need to do is sever the bonds and walk away." Christian stated

"It cannot be done. The bonds of fate are already tied. No matter how unimportant the meeting or how small the outcome; it will always have some later effect. It could be the smallest of things or the shortest of moments. It may never be remembered or even recorded. A bond of fate will never disappear once tied; so it's impossible to sever it."

"If you do, you can walk away. For you who values your freedom above all else; it should be an easy decision to make," he reasoned.

"Walk away and allow others to face the consequences of my own actions? Turn my back and pretend that it doesn't matter? The answer is no, Christian."

"I'll ask one final time, Phoenix. You or them?" he finished with a pointed look at the table.

"You dare too much, Christian," she answered, glacial blue eyes narrowing at his implication. She might not be able to beat him; but like hell was she going to stand by now, not while she still lived.

"You're hardly in any position to be making threats, Phoenix." he commented.

"I'm warning you, Christian. Whatever you may do to me, well it's me; so I can take it. However, when you take someone I care about and hurt them; that is something I will not stand for." She said, icily.

"Really?" he asked as he reached for the coiled whip.

She did not respond while she waited for his next move; she had been ill prepared for this confrontation, but it had to be done. Even though she had been trained as an assassin; she had never truly desired the kill, she'd never been that coldblooded. In Christian's case, however; she was willing to make an exception.

Christian's whip snapped against the linoleum floor; she heard the sound of metal strike the tiles. He'd done that for a reason; he wanted her to know what he intended to use, because he knew it would anger her. It would come down to speed; whether she was faster than his strike. She was her own weapon, but she would need to get close to him first. She could not take him head on; her best chance would be to keep moving until she got close enough. That meant dodging the whip, but staying inside his range.

She had jumped over his first strike and managed to sidestep his second. The third, however, caught her left leg and the sharp metal barbs tore into her flesh. Christian pulled on the whip causing it to tighten, and bring her to the ground.

He watched her on the floor as she unwrapped the whip from around her leg. Then she fixed him with a glare with her glittering glacial blue eyes. Those eyes, like pale sapphires filled with anger and defiance. He stood over her, the whip in his hand.

"Those eyes. I remember those eyes. I promised myself that I would get back at you for every time you looked at me with those eyes." he said as he drew back the whip.

He had left her there, for how long she was not certain, lying face down on the floor. Once again, the back of her shirt was in near tatters, damp with her blood from the many gashes and lacerations left by the whip. She stayed there bleeding, silent and still. The room was quiet; he'd cleaned the whip and left for now but he'd be back.

She knew above all how to be patient; her time to strike was almost at hand

tbc