Chapter 12

Hector was worried; he had neither seen nor spoken to Phoenix all morning, and he had been the last one to see her last night. No one had seen her since and there were not many places she could disappear to within the complex. He knew that she would not leave here; not with the lives at stake, she would prefer to die first. Whatever may or not be; the only way Christian would be able to touch them was over her cold and rotting corpse.

"Moby," the call was followed by a sharp whistle from behind him. At the sound, he turned and faced Lucius who was running up the corridor towards him.

"Have you found her?" Hector asked, assuming that Lucius's urgency had something to do with his current dilemma.

"No, but she will likely find us soon enough. Our dear sister is not going to be happy when she does." Lucius said.

"What do you mean?" Hector asked, raising an eyebrow. 'Our sister is sweet and kind.' he thought.

"Christian came down to Holding; and he took one." Lucius responded.

"What do you mean he took one? He not supposed to touch any of them, Phoenix was adamant about that. Which one?" Hector demanded. 'She is good hearted, not normally one to hold a grudge.'

"The one in black. The quiet one." Lucius said, having enough sense to look scared.

"How did Christian manage that? I know neither you nor Jon would help him; not with Phoenix so against it. I doubt it could have been done without a fight. They're skilled; they must be to be to have earned Phoenix's respect." Hector reasoned swiftly; making a conscious effort to ignore the chill running up his spine. 'She is one of the purest individuals I know.'

"There was no fight; Christian made it very clear when he told him, and I quote:'you either come with me or she will die.'" Lucius replied.

"Damn it. Alex was right; they are the exact same, not only that but they are the keys to each other." Hector groaned. 'That said, her temper is legendary. She is perhaps the most deadly one among us. She is fiercely protective of what belongs to her; and she will not tolerate anyone threatening that which is hers.'

"What should we do, Moby? Once Phoenix finds out..." Lucius trailed off, they both knew the possibilities regarding their sister.

"We find her first, Lucius; or there's a good chance we may all wind up dead." Hector said, solemnly.

"So here we are," Christian commented to his current 'guest'. The silence was unnerving him and so was his prisoner, who seemed to be analyzing him; just as Phoenix did. They were both too calm in a way that unnerved him, and he did not like that at all. He wanted a reaction; he needed to know that he got under the silent man's skin. He already knew exactly how to get that reaction.

"It's really quite inspirational to some, you know, this thing you have with Phoenix. The others, they all worship the ground she walks on; they're completely enchanted by the mere thought of her. She's quite precious to them, and to you as well, I'd wager. It must be nice for you to know that she obviously thinks the world of you. I know that for a fact because that's her blood staining the floor; she spilled it when she tried to fight me to protect you only hours ago. She didn't cry out, she has too much pride for that, like I said. She bleeds quite beautifully, and I believe I ruined another shirt of hers."

As Christian finished he watched the anger seem to emanate off the man in waves; he was pleased by this.

"I must admit to being a bit surprised by how little you understand about this situation. She came here willingly; knowing fully well what could happen to her, all so you wouldn't have to be here. She went to these lengths in order to protect you and you just throw that away just like it was nothing. You must think she's a fool to try to protect worthless trash like you. I should thank you for coming here; this would not be as much fun for me if you had not." Christian said reaching for his whip.

She listened from her place in the small alcove of the room; watching and waiting for the right time. She is a predator; a highly trained hunter, she knew all about how to be patient. She could wait forever unless she became annoyed or angry about something. Listening to Christian's voice annoyed her to some extent; not enough to really provoke her. It was the sound that followed that angered her. She had become very familiar with that sound over the last few days; the first made her flinch in reflex when she heard it, and her body recalled the pain that accompanied that sound.

Leather made a distinct sound as it moved through the air at high speed before meeting flesh. The sound was even more unique because of the metal barbs in the whip.

'You were warned. Those foolish enough to ignore a warning once given must pay the penalty.' She slowly, silently made her way out of the alcove. Christian paid little attention to his surrounding when he was having his 'fun', so there was only a slight chance he'd notice her before she wanted him to do so.

She moved behind Christian as the whip sailed back through the air. She raised her right arm, letting it wrap tightly around her arm and the barbs dig into her skin. She held the whip where it began to wrap near her wrist; the barbs in the leather pierced her palm, causing blood to flow from her hand.

"No more." she whispered softly, her ice blue eyes fixed on Christian. While her words were quiet; it was misleading, and her tone was about as soft as velvet wrapped steel. It was a command, a threat issued as a final warning, and all three of them knew it.

"I suppose this is where you tell me that I should pay more attention to my surroundings, or perhaps locked the door." Christian said turning to her.

"Do you really think the door would stop me, Christian? Did you actually think I'd allow this?" she asked, her voice is low and menacing. Her glittering, almost glowing glacial blue eyes are locked on her adversary.

Snake Eyes watched the pair as they stood against one another; they watched only each other, and waited for the first move. The pain from the whip was something he could easily ignore, but it was not so easy to ignore what had caught his attention.

Numerous rips and tears stained a dark red on the back of her shirt, there was no way he could not notice that. He had known about it; Christian had all but bragged only moments ago, but seeing proof was a different matter.

/\/\"It does not matter to her,' Alex said to them, 'As long as it is only her life, it never matters to her. But when it involves more than just her that is only when it begins to matter."/\/\

'I knew what she was trying to do. She was sacrificing herself to try to protect everyone else. If it is her life; it might not matter to her, but it does to me.'

"It would appear that you wish to attack me, Phoenix. That is not a surprise; but are you certain you should try it now, it hasn't been very long since you last tried." he stated before he yanked hard on the whip's handle.

It tightened around her arm, sliding through her hand; cutting and tearing into her flesh. She did not try to release it; instead she tightened her grip and pulled back in a swift, hard tug. Christian was unprepared for that action, losing his grip on the whip as the handle went flying in her direction. She caught it deftly and started to twirl it aroung in a circling arc.

"You were warned, Christian," she said coldly; "A warning is only given once in this world."

The tables had turned when Christian Blair lost his weapon, that was evident in the way he stepped backwards to the table as she advanced on him. Their focus was only on the threat before them; like nothing else mattered at the moment, at least not to them. Nothing but their opponents: each other; they both ignored Snake Eyes as he watched them.

He watched and stayed as still as he could. If he moved; he would draw their attention and that could shift the balance once more. He knew as well as she did, the reason why being identified as his weakness made her angry was because it was true. It is a truth both of them acknowledged; as it would be worse to dismiss it. They were far more devastating weapons against each other than anything else in the world.

She swung the handle of the whip at him, but he ducked, the second time it caught him in the left side of his face.

"You're going to pay for that, Phoenix," he growled, spitting blood and a tooth on to the floor, as he reached behind him to the table. His hand closed on the liquid filled syringe.

He caught the next swing as it came at his head and used the whip to pull her in closer. He took the syringe and stuck it into her arm, pushing the plunger down before he released it, the whip still held taunt between them.

That had been an unexpected move for him taking her off guard; her mind registered the syringe's presence momentarily, and then immediately dismissed it. Shana refocused again completely on Christian, as her free hand snagged up a blade from his tool table. An instant later she had sliced through the whip in one swift movement.

Both of them stumbled back a couple of steps before they regained their footing. Christian began to circle her slowly; like a predatory animal; she followed his movements so that she faced him the entire time. She would not take the risk of giving him any opening; not when the slightest mistake could mean the difference between life and death.

He had noted the syringe; the way she had paused long enough to pull it out and toss it aside, and it did not matter to her at all. She had been surprised by the action but not really concerned about it. It had been regarded and dismissed in the same way one might dismiss an annoying insect. It was hard for him to not be concerned about what had been in that syringe, even if she was not.

Christian moved fast and sudden; charging at her as she stood her ground. At the last possible second, she sidestepped him causing him to go right passed her. As he turned to face her, her bootheel hit the right side of his head. He dropped to the ground out cold.

"Fool. Never get caught in your opponent's range and never grant them a clean shot at you." she said, sighing; before she started going through Christian's pockets for the keys. Once she found them, it only took her a few seconds to free Snake Eyes.

~Are you alright?~

"Fine. I think I should be the one asking that question." she answered.

~I'll be okay. It looks like her hurt you more.~ Snake signed, motioning to her back where her shirt was stained deep dark red.

"Don't worry about that. It's nothing. " she responded, taking the handcuffs and hooking them to the leg of the bolted table.

~You're asking the impossible.~

"Why do you say that?" she asked, watching him walk over to the corner of the room.

~It's not possible for me not to worry about you. It's like not breathing; I could try, but I would not be able to do it for long.~ he paused to pick up the syringe from the floor. ~What was in here?~

"Considering it was Christian, it could be any number of things," she remarked, dragging Christian over to the table.

~Poison?~ That thought had occcured to Snake Eyes the moment he saw the syringe.

"No, that is the one thing that it would definately not be. Christian's a sadistic bastard, but he's still a Black Dragon, and he thinks like one." She responded calmly as she cuffed Christian to the table.

~I don't understand. How can you be sure?~

"To a Black Dragon; the very idea of using poison to kill an enemy is considered repugnant and weak, and it's not a very certain way to kill either. It's actually a matter of respect, really. If you've made an enemy of a Black Dragon to the point that they want you dead, they will not use anything like that to kill you. It's the way we, or at least most of us are. The enemy should at least be granted a swift and certain demise." she answered, taking a moment to tug on the leg of the table.

~If that's the general belief regarding enemies, what about former teammates?~

"That's different, especially seeing as how until now there has never been any before. Traitors are meant to die; that's a given, the method will generally vary from one of us to another. Theoretically, they would still be considered a respected opponent; and as such should be granted the opportunity to fight for their life. It's all a matter of respect: enemies, respected adversaries and traitor are all granted a measure of respect. Poison would be disrespectful to use on each other." she answered. 'Besides we could not be certain if it would actually work since we are not at all normal.' she added silently.

"This will buy us some time before he gets free and hopefully it will be enough to be long gone."

She took the set of keys; locking the door as an extra precaution when they left the room, and she handed the keys to Snake Eyes.

"Go and get Storm and Jinx. It's Antonio's shift, he'll show you the way out." she said quickly.

~What about you?~

"I'll meet you outside. I just have to do a couple ot things first." She replied as she started down a different corridor.

She made her way into quarters; quickly gathering what she needed and knowing that there is very little time. Her wounds had stopped bleeding by now, in another couple of hours and they would be sealed over. She exchanged the ragged bloody shirt for the black kevlar top Ian had given her in New York. She pulled on her long black coat and began to stash the small arsenal she had gathered. A couple of small revolvers, including the one she had previously shown the ninjas, and a few blades into the hidden pockets.

She retrieved a sheathed sword from a long wooden box in the south corner of the room. Hector had given it to her seeing as she was lacking her own. He was fond of bladed weapons, swords especially; he preferred the heavier broadsword type to this. She and Ian found that they enjoyed the elegance of the Japanese katana; it is their preferred blade, and they would carry it if the situation called for it.

'The situation has changed; I can no longer continue to wait. If I do not act soon, the price will be high indeed. '

She had meant what she said about enemies, respected opponents and traitors; that was the opinion kept be the majority of the Black Dragons, but not all of them thought that way. There are actually two among them that could and would use any means necessary to gain the upper hand; Christian is one of them. He was also a sadist; he liked to cause pain and torment to others, and he liked his games. That was shy she knew he wouldn't try to kill her. He had chosen her as his target and he would do anything he could to cause her pain short of killing her. If his target dies then he has no source for his entertainment.

The other is herself; she is assassin, trained to hunt and kill from the shadows. She knew how to slip inside a fortified building; slit the throat of some heavily guarded person, and leave without notice. She had been conditioned to respond to any threat in the most efficient and effective way possible; usually it was immediate termination.

'Such is the purpose of my existence. I know what it is to walk in the shadows; to exist and subside in darkness, and to hunt and kill at the behest of another. It is a difficult thing to live as I do even among the other Black Dragons; they don't walk the shadows, and know the things I do. Few could do it and retain some semblance of humanity, and the darkness will eventually consume the human heart. If this is what I must do in order to protect that which is important to me, then so be it.'

tbc

A/N: A new chap just for you before the New Year. I know there's probably too many lines added; I was having trouble trying to fit the POV changes together without them. Originally this was two different chapters but I decided to merge them. Let me know what you think of it. Also I hope to finish this story in the coming year, and perhaps do another sequal.

Thanks for reading. I hope you had Happy Holidays and have a Happy New Year's.