Happy Hump Day! A Chapter in the middle of this beautiful Wednesday afternoon!
'Burned to the ground…' When Vance first told them about The Phoenix he had said that those who stood between Julia and her children were 'burned to the ground.' They thought it was just descriptive speech, a fanciful telling of the story but after seeing what they just saw, and hearing Malachi speak of the legend, they realized it was likely true as well.
"I am going to go talk to her." Ziva decided in that moment, afraid that Julia would end up incinerating Tony for his inability to control his emotional outbursts. A fear she'd never known struck her heart at looking at his outline made of glass shards embedded deeply into the wall. Her only solace was that Julia had enough control over her abilities that she'd purposefully spared him from even a single piece of glass touching his body.
"Ziva, I don't think that's a good idea." McGee immediately jumped up to stop her with wide-eyes and fear in his heart and grabbed her upper arm to stop her from going after Julia. "She is really upset right now. Maybe you should let her calm down and come back to us when she is ready?" He suggested swallowing hard at seeing the look in Ziva's eyes.
"She won't hurt me, McGee." Ziva answered quietly believing that was really true. "If she had wanted to hurt Tony, she would have. She didn't. Look at her control." He nodded towards the perfect outline on the wall, "I think there is something she isn't telling us that has her so on edge and Tony's inability to control himself is not helping the situation."
"Ducky did say that Tony's Coma Psychosis could take time, Ziva." McGee shook his head softly looking towards the door to the other room where Tony and Gibbs had disappeared behind.
"Well we don't have time, Agent McGee!" Malachi fired back from where he slid back down against the wall, still clearly upset by what Tony had said to him in regards to Liat. "His inability to be rational is compromising this mission! He should not be here! He puts us all in danger and jeopardizes our chance to get Liat!"
"He will be fine!" Ziva countered with upset and pounding heart, worried Malachi was right and fearful of both taking Tony and leaving him behind.
"Ziva, the point is…he is not fine." Malachi's tone softened understanding why she was so upset. "His fear over losing you controls his every thought and reaction right now. Julia is right, he will get someone killed that way."
"Maybe you should stay here with him." Asa offered quietly as a solution from the corner where he was also leaning back against the wall and resting.
"I am not staying here." Ziva shook her head, "I am going to speak with Julia and find out what is going on." She strode quickly past them all, not liking their suggestions that either Tony or them both stay behind.
"You don't even know where she's gone to!" McGee called after her realizing that Ziva was charging out the door after Julia when they had no idea where she was. Given the angry mob outside and the man initially targeting Ziva, he wasn't about to let her out of his sight. "Wait! I will find her with you!" He called out to Ziva hurrying along to catch up.
When Ziva and McGee finally checked the roof of the building they were staying in, they found Julia pacing like a caged tiger on its far ledge. The small rocks that were part of the roofs surface were levitating off the ground around her and stopped Ziva and McGee in their tracks to witness it for the first time. This time, it was Ziva stopping McGee from going any closer with her hand on his chest.
Julia snapped her head towards them and the rocks crashed back down with the gravity. The glasses once again obscured their view of her eyes but they were sure they were likely liquid pools of gold once more given what they'd just seen.
"Are you…okay?" Ziva asked quietly swallowing hard and hesitating to come any closer. She knew that Julia was already dealing with a lot in her own life without this added stress and remembered Katherine's words, that she just hid her pain better. To get her this upset as to actually show it, was telling. Especially given what they'd seen of her 'non-reaction' in London when facing off with Henry. If she could keep her composure facing him down, after just admitting to Ziva she'd recently had his baby, then for her to show the least bit of emotion to them and in such a manner downstairs meant something was really wrong.
Julia seemed immediately stunned by Ziva's question and paused mid-stride in her pace. Likely, because no one had ever asked her before if she, were okay after demonstrating her destructive powers as The Phoenix.
"I am fine." Julia answered and continued pacing and for the first time in her life, Ziva realized how annoying that response was when you were truly worried for someone and they gave that answer.
"You are not fine. I am sorry for Tony. He has always had the nervous chatter but this…this is not like him. He has been this way-" Ziva tried to explain and Julia waved her off again.
"Since he woke from his coma. I know." Julia shook her head, "He is still suffering the side-effects from the Coma Psychosis which are getting worse the further in we take you towards danger. I understand but, Ziva…you do not understand what will happen if we cannot get him to listen to me!" She wheeled on her heal and turned in the other direction, "I do not know what to do right now about him. I cannot leave him behind or what I see is very bad and if I take him and he does not listen, what I see is very bad."
"What happens if he stays?" McGee asked as he and Ziva took two small steps closer towards Julia. His heart was pounding thinking about what had this woman so frazzled.
"If we leave him, that mob returns and they will gut him. Literally. Eventually the man I subdued will remember the incident and he will come back for Tony who made him out to be a fool in front of the others." Julia shook her head and waved her hand, "I cannot leave him here. That is out of the question."
"What do you see happening to him if he doesn't listen to you?" Ziva asked with tears in her eyes to hear Julia's reasoning for her upset. Like Tony, Julia's attitude and nerves had also became more and more tense the closer they came to actually rescuing Liat, and Ziva had a feeling that had something to do with Tony's behavior and what Julia saw of the future.
"If…" Julia began taking a deep breath, "If I cannot get him to listen to me, I will end up killing him." She spit out rapidly and quite plainly, stopping to stare directly at them with her arms folded over her chest and tapping with her fingers on her arm.
"Why?" Ziva asked choking on tears with wide-eyes to hear such a thing.
"It's not what you think. I would never kill him intentionally." Julia seemed more upset by seeing Ziva's reaction and likely hearing her initial concerns in her mind. "If I cannot get him to listen to me, he will end up doing something that puts him into my direct path of fire and I won't have any control over what happens to him! Do you understand now, why I must get him to listen?"
Ziva's mind was reeling with the information and going over the sequence of events. From the moment that Tony had asked Julia in the bedroom if she could harm him intentionally so that she could then heal him and Julia's immediate upset that only seemed to grow more agitated from that moment forward.
"How long have you seen this outcome?" Ziva asked wanting to know if her realizations were correct.
"Since Tony suggested I hurt him to heal him, I saw the first flash of what happens." Julia answered with a deep sigh, "And if this happens, it brings about a sequence of events…" She shook her head, "This cannot happen! And the closer we get to getting Liat the more forceful this vision is becoming. Sometimes, it changes and he listens and no one is harmed. Then other times, when his psychosis and fear get the best of him, the outcome is very bad in what I see. He is so terrified to lose you again, Ziva, especially after being trapped in those nightmares while in the coma. The thought of not having you in his life anymore…literally renders him incapable of functioning!" She shook her head and began to pace again, "It truly is…an amazing testament of his love for you…but in this situation, his dying to save you is not so romantic. Combined with his already traumatic fears of losing his mother as a child…" Her voice faded away, shaking her head softly and no doubt thinking of her own children having the same anxieties after her own 'death' and being taken away.
Ziva and McGee were both stunned speechless and Julia's mood was explained. Why she set herself apart from them and wouldn't engage Tony. She saw herself killing him with her abilities accidentally because he wouldn't listen and stepped into her line of fire. It was no wonder she was on edge and so demanding that he listen to her.
"Can you heal him?" McGee thought for a moment with bright eyes, "Can you heal Tony's psychosis?"
"No," Julia shook her head sadly and seemingly upset as well, "I cannot heal psychological damage and traumas; only physical wounds. I have been trying to calm him, and lower his reactions but with so many irons in the fire right now protecting everyone else, keeping up the shield, keeping the mental connections, keeping an eye on the future, and my children and Liat and trying to suppress my energy is exceedingly difficult to keep all the balls in the air at one time, as they say! And I," She jabbed her fingers into her chest hard as she paced, "Become more and more agitated holding back my energy as it burns inside me like molten lava," Her voice wavered with emotion and she clenched and unclenched her fist, "the pain is excruciating like liquid fire in my veins and it will only get worse before I release it. Whatever God gave me these 'gifts,' they made sure that if I build up my energy to use this way, it hurts like hell and gives me pause before unleashing it so carefree."
Ziva and McGee could only look at her helplessly; they had no idea it physically hurt Julia to be The Phoenix. To hold back her energy to be able to do all of these things for prolonged periods of time and in so many directions, that it felt like liquid fire in her veins as she said.
"I am so sorry." Ziva shook her head with tears in her eyes. "What can we do?"
"We must find a way to get him to listen, since we can't leave him behind." Julia shook her head sighing deeply.
"Tell him the truth." McGee sobered with a small head nod, "Tell him that unless he listens to you, he will die at your hand and you'll have no way to stop it." He looked at Ziva seeing her eyes' widen, "Scare the hell out of him so badly he finds a way to remember and hold onto some bit of sanity."
"That may make it worse." Ziva worried about Tony's already fearful mind freaking out and breaking down even further.
"What other options do we have?" McGee asked honestly, not knowing what to do. "Let him know that it won't be you dying, Ziva, it will be him!"
"It won't be him that dies." Julia shook her head not looking at them, "I won't let that happen." She added quietly and continued pacing. "Please, I need a few minutes alone." She asked without looking at them, "I will be down soon."
Malachi, E.J. and Asa sat on the floor lying back against three different walls looking at each other. Each was lost in their own thoughts about what was happening and what they'd seen. Mind-boggling, didn't begin to cover it. Staring at the glass outline of Tony on the wall was a constant grounding factor in reminding them that what they'd seen was indeed real and had actually happened.
They were relieved when McGee and Ziva returned not too long after disappearing to find Julia, though both looked even more distraught now then when they'd left.
"So you found her?" E.J. asked quietly as Ziva slid carefully down the wall beside her to sit on a pillow on the floor.
"Yes," Ziva nodded as McGee slid down the wall beside Asa, facing them and Malachi slid closer to the group so they could speak quietly. "She was on the roof."
"The roof gravel around her was floating." McGee added in a near whisper with wide-eyes. "Not kidding, it was floating and when she saw Ziva and I standing there, they all felt quickly back to the ground."
None of them knew what to say or how to react so they simply stare at McGee with wide and unblinking eyes.
"It physically hurts her to be The Phoenix." Ziva spoke softly gaining their attention away from staring at McGee in disbelief, "To hold back her energy like she is to this magnitude, conserving it to be able to do what she is right now…actually hurts her. She said it feels like liquid fire in her veins to hold it back."
"My God," E.J. gasped softly feeling heaviness in her heart.
"And she was holding back on telling us what she knows. She says we can't leave Tony behind or he'll be killed by the man with the dagger, and if we take him with us, there is a chance," Ziva swallowed hard, "That she will kill him."
"What?" Malachi was the first to ask, literally stunned to hear what he'd warned possibly coming true.
"Not why you think. She wouldn't kill him intentionally. If he doesn't listen to her, and steps into her line of fire…he will die." Ziva answered with tears in her eyes. "We must find a way to get him to listen and trust that she knows what she's doing. Which won't be easy, because as Julia said, the closer we get to the danger the more Tony's psychosis is flaring given his paranoia in losing me. It is consuming his every thought."
"And she didn't know how bad it would be before we got here?" E.J. asked wondering why they didn't just leave him behind earlier.
"No, she said the closer we get to danger the worse it has gotten and that wasn't something she could see until it started to happen." Ziva tried explaining having wondered the same thing too. "She can see the future but its fluid and changing when people differ their actions. We just need to get him to trust her and listen and it will be fine. It will be fine." She added softly trying to convince herself and hoping that Gibbs would be able to get through to Tony.
They all fell quiet thinking about what Ziva had said, and what Julia had revealed to them both about her abilities and Tony's future if he didn't learn to listen to her.
Tony had slunk down against the far wall by the window, dropping his bag beside him and rifling through it for his water. Gibbs moved quietly to sit beside him and they sat in silence for several long minutes while Tony calmed down.
When Tony's chest stopped heaving and his jaw unclenched, Gibbs dared speaking feeling he was more rational now.
"What's on your mind, DiNozzo?" He asked quietly pulling his own knees up on the floor to drape his arms over lazily, trying to maintain a non-threatening posture and keep Tony calm.
"I think I've lost my mind, Boss." Tony shook his head slowly, "I have no idea what is happening with me anymore." He took another swig of water, "It's like I just get crazy with fear and anxiety and then anger…and I lose it. I've always had a temper but this…what's wrong with me?"
"You've been through a lot the last few months, Tony." Gibbs answered him quietly taking a deep breath, "We all have." He paused, "Ziver getting shot and believing she was dead and everything that came after and now it's all coming to a head." He shuffled the toe of his combat boot against the dust o the tile floor. "I think you're scared." He chose his words carefully as Tony stared at a spot on the floor, "You're lashing out at Julia…because you feel a loss of control about the unknown and what will happen. Is that right?" He asked softly seeing that Tony was thinking about what he was saying from the expression on his face.
"I can't lose Ziva." Tony shook his head softly with tears welling in his eyes and ignored them.
"You won't lose her, Tony." Gibbs reached over and squeezed Tony's knee beside him speaking in a soothing fatherly tone, "My gut says to trust Julia. This isn't her first Op, Tony. She does this a lot more then any of us. Her whole life before recently was in the field doing this very thing. Given what we know about her life and as a mother, I have to believe she would never have let Ziva come along if she didn't believe she could keep her safe. You've got to let go, and trust her."
"I'm trying to trust her. I am. I don't know why I get so angry with her… I just lose it." Tony shook his head softly, and speaking quietly, "I'm just afraid to trust her and that she'll take away everything I love. It's not rational, I get that, but I just have this incredibly anxiety I can't contain."
"Can I ask you something?" Gibbs hedged cautiously and caught Tony's immediate eyes of surprise at the question. He waited for Tony to nod slightly to go ahead, "What role does your Mom play in this?"
Tony stilled completely with unblinking eyes, staring at Gibbs having not expected that question at all.
"None," Tony answered shaking his head adamantly and then slowly as he thought about it, "I don't know, Boss." He added quietly going over things in his mind. "I was having a lot of nightmares about her, memories of her death and Ziva's when I was…in the coma, I guess."
"You were afraid to love Ziva for a long time, because you were afraid to lose her like your Mom…" Gibbs spoke softly hinting at the question and answer without really asking it and watched Tony carefully.
Tony nodded softly that was true.
"How old was your Mom when she died, Tony?" Gibbs asked softly having some idea but wanted Tony to make the connections in his own mind. Finding a path towards sanity in all the confusion from his psychosis dreams and past memories.
"She was thirty-two." Tony answered quietly.
"So about the same age as Ziva," Gibbs prompted and saw Tony nod, "About the same age as Julia."
Tony's eyes flashed back to Gibbs and knit in confusion, "What does that have to do with anything?" He asked wondering why Gibbs would bring up Julia's age.
"I think Julia reminds you of your Mom, Tony." Gibbs answered softly and Tony scoffed in laughter.
"You're joking right?" He shook his head laughing, "Good one, Boss."
"I'm not joking." Gibbs deadpanned.
"Boss, you can't be serious? I do not see Julia as my mother! She's younger than me!" Tony looked at him with wide astonished eyes of disbelief, "Beautiful, gorgeous, fierce warrior woman who gets under my skin but certainly not my mother! I do not look at her and have motherly feelings! How could you think that?"
"I think you do." Gibbs looked at him and spoke slowly and softly having Tony's full attention, "I think the part of you that was so traumatized by your mother's death as a child, the part you still carry with you that makes you afraid to love Ziva…makes you afraid to even speak about your mother in all these years, recognizes your mother in Julia and you're angry with her for it."
"Boss…" Tony shook his head with a bewildered smile trying to brush the man off as speaking crazy talk for comparing Julia to his mother.
"Why don't you speak about your mother, Tony?" Gibbs asked having rarely if ever heard Tony speak about his mother in all the years he'd known him. In fact, it was one of the rare occasions he had heard about the woman when Julia brought her up the other morning over coffee and speaking of one of Tony's memories that he held dear.
Tony's mind instantly flashed to Ziva asking the same question in the break room and he sighed heavily, scrubbing one hand through his hair giving Gibbs the same answer, "She was the first woman to break my heart. I don't like to talk about it."
"You're angry with your mother, for leaving you and breaking your heart." Gibbs stated quietly and Tony nodded that was true. "She died Tony. She didn't choose to leave you."
"I know that, Boss." Tony shifted uncomfortably, "I know that."
"But you can't help but still be angry with her for leaving you?" Gibbs asked and Tony nodded.
"I can't help it. I miss her all the time and I'm terrified of losing Ziva the same way." Tony answered him. "I don't know why I get so angry with Julia but-"
"She has the same kind of looks as your mother…about the same age your mother was in your last memories of her," Gibbs forged ahead making the connections Tony was adamant about not seeing, "She was forcefully taken from her son…he was made to believe she died. But she fought for him. She fought to come back to him, taking on the world to do it." Gibbs looked Tony in the eye and saw the change and defeat of recognition. "And now they're together."
"You think, I resent Julia…because I see my mother in her." Tony gulped in understanding now about what Gibbs meant. He wasn't looking at Julia 'as' his mother but seeing his mother in her. "That the anger I feel about my mother leaving me and never coming back…I take out on Julia because she did come back for her son."
Gibbs nodded softly and Tony sighed deeply, dropping his head and running both hands through his hair now, realizing there was truth there that he'd never recognized before.
"I'm just so afraid to lose Ziva." Tony spoke quietly.
"I know," Gibbs lay a gentle hand on Tony's back speaking as a father would, "But at some point, you have to let go and trust others to help take care of her. What do you think I'm doing with you?" He smiled at him and chuckled, "I'm letting go, and trusting that you can help take care of Ziva."
"I'm not doing a very good job right now." Tony shook his head with another deep sigh, "I'm lashing out at the woman who saved our baby and is saving Ziva and Liat's lives, nearly getting us all killed in the process."
"So talk to her." Gibbs pushed him, "Tell her the truth."
"Me? Talk with Julia now?" Tony asked incredulously, "Boss, I don't think that's a good idea. I get the impression she wants to kill me."
"Nah," Gibbs smiled, "If she wanted to kill you, she would have." He sighed, "Course that doesn't mean she won't kill you if you keep antagonizing her. I trust her, but that doesn't mean you want to be on her bad side, DiNozzo."
"I'm not trying to be." Tony admitted softly, "I just can't seem to help myself."
"Go talk to her." Gibb nodded towards the door out of their small room.
A sigh of relief washed over Ziva to see Tony emerge from the room with Gibbs behind him, seeing him much more calm and relaxed at Gibbs nodding softly at her with a slight smile that things were okay.
"Where is Julia?" Tony asked looking around the small room and not seeing her there. Apparently, she hadn't come back yet after storming out the door.
"She's on the roof." McGee answered looking Tony over, "Why?"
"I need to speak with her." He looked at them all and then focused on Malachi, "I was being an ass. You were trying to be a friend." He offered as way of apology.
"Yes, you were being an ass." Malachi answered him and sighed, letting him off the hook. "Try not to be in the future."
"I'm trying." Tony answered honestly, wishing he had better control over his issues. "I will be back." He headed towards the door and Ziva was standing to go with him when he put his hand up to stop her with a small smile, "I need to speak with her alone."
"Tony," Ziva began to argue not sure this was a good idea at all considering he'd already angered Julia enough and she was still upset if she hadn't come down from the roof yet. "She's upset. You should give her time."
"I hope that by speaking with her, she'll be less upset." He answered and saw their shared looks of disbelief at that statement. "I know, I know, it's ironic. But just trust me on this one, okay?" He gave Ziva a small smile and then softened seeing the worry and concern in her eyes, "I think I know what my problem with her is now."
"What?" Ziva asked quietly seeing something different in Tony's eyes.
"My mother." He answered quietly holding her gaze for a moment and then flashing over to Gibbs who gave him a nod of encouragement. "It will be okay." He smiled softly again at Ziva and left calmly out the door.
"His mother?" Asa asked with confusion all over his face.
Asa may not have understood, but Ziva did. Things clicked into place for her as she looked at Gibbs. Tony's fear and extreme anxiety over losing Ziva had always stemmed from his childhood abandonment issues when his mother died. He'd even told Ziva that she was the first woman to break his heart and he never forgave her for it. Julia was about the same age, same coloring as his mother. A very good mother from what they'd seen of her with her children, not unlike Tony's. Only, Julia came back after she'd been ripped out of her son's life. Tony's mother, Isabella, never did.
Tony took a deep breath to brace himself as he pushed through the last door headed towards the roof entrance. He wasn't exactly sure what he was going to say to Julia, he was just going to try and speak from the heart and hope he didn't stick another foot in his mouth. When he stepped out into the sweltering heat once more, he saw Julia sitting on the roof's ledge with her back to him. She was leaning back on her hands, with sunglasses on and staring up at the sky. He proceeded to walk towards her and realized she must have known it was him as she made no attempt to turn around or assess the potential threat as his boots crunched the rocks beneath his slow stride.
"Don't do it!" He couldn't resist joking about her jumping and smiled softly, peering over the edge of the building that was four stories tall and looking down at the Street Market below. "Sorry." He sighed gingerly taking a seat next to her, leaving a space of about two feet and then hissing when his hands touched the hot concrete. "Damn that's hot!" He shook his hand and then noticed she didn't seem to mind at all with her palms flat against the surface. "Doesn't that burn you?" He asked shifting in his seat feeling the heat from the sun soaked concrete warming his butt and thighs even through his pants.
"No." Julia answered still staring at the sky and said nothing more.
"I am sorry for not listening to you." Tony dove in and apologized. "I am trying, I am its just that my brain is not cooperating since the coma and the closer we get to Bodnar… I'm terrified of losing Ziva." He rambled quickly rubbing his hands together, shifting his gaze from Julia down to the bright colors of the market below.
Julia didn't say anything in response, only continued to stare at the sky and the silence between them caused Tony to keep shifting in his seat uncomfortably.
"Your mother loved you very much, Tony." Julia finally spoke quietly, "She would never have left you by choice."
Tony's heart skipped a beat to hear her speak and what she'd said. Julia did know exactly what he was thinking and what his issue with her was. Now he remained quiet and listened.
"I understand well your fears of abandonment. Both as a mother to a son who is still terrified each time I leave for just a day, afraid I will never return." Julia swallowed hard and Tony knew she was speaking of Kristoff as the oldest who remembered her 'dying' and going away. "And as a child, who lost the only mother I knew leaving me all alone." She sighed and Tony remembered they shared this common link as well. "I miss my mother Kristin all the time. I was angry for a long time as a child that she left me alone in the world."
Julia paused and took a soft breath, "The morning my mother died, a nurse brought me into the hallway. She said I needed to tell my mother that it was okay to let go; that I would be all right. She said my mother needed to hear this from me or she would keep fighting because my mother kept crying through the pain that morning that 'she didn't want to leave her children.' I knew when I walked back into that room, and told my mother it was okay to die and leave me, that my life would never be the same again. It was not okay for her to die. It was not okay for her to leave me. I became increasingly more angry with her the older I got as I was subjected to the program. There was no one to protect me as a mother is supposed to do. It wasn't until I became a mother myself, and was forced to leave my child that I finally understood fully what it had been like for her to leave me."
Tony saw a single tear roll down Julia's cheek, escaping from her sunglasses and the only indication of emotion she was concealing.
"So I speak from experience on both sides, Tony, when I tell you that she loved you tremendously, and did not want to leave you."
Julia went quiet for a long time and Tony thought about what she had said, what she revealed.
"I never got to say goodbye." Tony added quietly thinking about his own mother's death. She had passed away during the night while he was asleep and no one had woken him at the time to let him say goodbye. He'd been angry about that for as long as he could remember; angry that his mother hadn't waited to at least say goodbye before she died.
"She would have come back, Tony, if she could have." Julia spoke quietly knowing exactly what he was thinking and in regards to her.
"I know." He sighed. "I know it wasn't her fault. That she didn't want to leave me."
"Kristoff is still angry with me for leaving him." Julia answered, "Sometimes, I think he will never forgive me either. That the pain of my sudden absence from his life, will never heal." She paused, "I can only hope one day, he will truly understand how much I love him and that I would never, ever leave him had I a choice."
Tony wanted to offer words of comfort and say not to worry, he will. But he couldn't as he knew from first hand experience, current conversation as proof, that sometimes the wounds are too deep and take a long time to heal.
"Perhaps, when he becomes a father." Julia spoke again softly, "Then, he will understand… as I did once I became a mother." Finally, she turned her head to look at Tony though he still couldn't see her eyes behind the glasses, "And perhaps, you will finally forgive your own mother for leaving you…when you hold your own child in your arms for the first time as well." She gave him a small sad smile.
"I hope so." Tony added softly as it was the truth, "I love my mother. I don't want to be angry with her."
"Children have a way of healing old wounds from the past, Tony." Julia reached over and patted his hand softly, sending fiery pulses into Tony's skin, "My children have been the balm to many wounds in my soul. Give it time…I'm sure you and Ziva both, will realize the same."
They once again fell into companionable silence before Julia spoke again.
"Tony, you must find a way to listen to me. To trust me." She sighed softly, "If you do not, I will end up killing you."
Tony was quiet as his heart began to pound in fear. The sadness in her tone suggested it wouldn't be out of anger for his lack of verbal filter that finally set her off enough to do him in, but something else.
"I see this as a possibility in the near future. When we rescue Liat. If you do not listen to my instructions and get in my way…" Julia took a deep breath and shifted her position sitting forward on the ledge, "Please, just find a way to listen to me for both our sakes?"
"I will try." Tony nodded softly, hoping his brain would cooperate and heed her warning. "What will happen if I don't?" He asked in barely above a whisper, curious to know what she saw.
Julia turned her head slightly to look up and across the way at the neighboring building. A line of brightly colored laundry was flapping in the soft breeze. A gust of wind suddenly came up, tearing one sheet off and into the air and as it floated away over the buildings edge, it burst into flames and turned to ash within seconds with the dust scattering away in the wind.
Tony gulped repeatedly with wide-eyes and saw Julia's head slowly turn back to look him. "Understood." He answered her immediately.
AN: Another chapter this evening as our Team goes after Liat! And yes, she will make her return appearance! YEAH! turtlelv25...you can get those drinks ready now ;)