1. Fallen Phoenix

Chapter 04: Hidden In Plain Sight.

The slender redhead woman with light red wings rounded the corner of the hallway. She walked several minutes with an eerie feeling of being followed. Her pupils swirled feverishly as she turned, looking at an empty hallway. She stood there a few minutes as if waiting for someone to appear.

Finally, she turned back around, not sure whether it was the fact that she was cold, wet and tired or that small glimpse of Phoenix had anything todo with it. She wasn't sure what it was. But seeing him in person like that caught her off guard. All the training she had gone through, seemed to fade away as if she had had none.

She stopped at a door with the name Anastasia printed in large block letters. Opening the door slowly, she rubbed her left eye while walking into her quarters. The lights automatically turned on as she dragged her tired feet over to her bed falling face forward, exhausted upon it. Several articles of clothing dropped to the floor as her wings slumped down along her body. A strong male voice broke the silence.

"Nasty weather out there tonight, don't you think?"

Jumping up she spun around quickly to see the voice's origin. Finding herself looking at Phoenix sitting backwards in her computer chair, his arms crossed on the back rest. Resting his head sideways on them with his eyes closed not a worry on his face.

His wings relaxed and draped along his shoulders. Anastasia baffled by his boldness, not only entering the building but also entering her room. She tried to form words with her mouth but no sound came out. He spoke again.

"Yeah, if I had known you were trailing Agent Frank, I would have tried to stop the rain or least stopped him from flying. I know rain can be a problem for fire-based beings such as yourself."

She cocked her head to the side, a look of both concern and confusion on her face.

"A quiet one aren't you, nothing like Agent Frank... always has his mouth open."

Phoenix lightly yawned.

"How did you get in here?"

"Hmm? Oh, so you do speak. Heh, heh, well I have many talents."

"But I should have been able to sense you or at least see you."

"No, I didn't want you to so you didn't. I've been following you since you first saw me below Agent Frank."

"You saw me trailing him? But how?"

"Wasn't hard for me, I just have a higher level of vision then most of my type."

"But how? Your file says nothing of the sort. None of which you have preformed tonight is listed in it."

"My File, huh? Well, I'm sure it is truly lacking in what all I can do."

"You know I could call for help and you'd be caught before you could escape."

"Yeah, I know you could, but you won't. The mere fact being that you would already have done so. No you won't turn me in, there's something inside of you that won't let you."

For the first time he opened his eyes and turned his head resting his chin on his arms. Stepping back she sat down on the edge of her bed. She didn't look at him directly, not wishing for her eyes to meet his. Speaking softly not much louder she asked him a question.

"How is it you became a Fallen Phoenix? Your file doesn't really state it too clearly, only that your classification is 'Very Dangerous'."

Phoenix's head sagged as his wings drooped, a look of pain filling his eyes.

"You don't mind me asking do you?"

Concern placed in her voice. He stared at a picture, but seemed to look farther away as he spoke.

"I don't mind. It's just a painful memory for me. Over two thousand years ago and still its cause haunts me to this day. Often have I been torn from sleep by that nightmare. I was forced to watch my mate murdered, unable to stop it. We were both chained, hanging from our arms; bound by ancient spells that stopped us from using any of our abilities. There were at least two of them. They cut her flesh slowly and hacked her wings off. Her screams of pain drowned out her tears of pain. She was only two feet from me. I had to hang there unable to stop it, to hang there and watch her die as her blood flowed. My death, by comparison, was a fast one. They placed ancient spells on an ax and planted it's blade in my back. They didn't care if my body died quickly, for they knew my mind had been broken by what they had done to her. Soon after they left, my body consumed itself in black flames. I was reborn again but she wasn't. Several years passed before I found our murderers. They had kept themselves well hidden. None the less I found them and found my revenge. Having taken their lives in a way that would not grant them a rebirth from the flames of life; I was captured and marked forever as a fallen phoenix, where as they were hailed as heroes for killing me and my mate."

There was a long pause between the two of them before she spoke again.

"May I ask what your sentence was?"

"My sentence was to walk this world without my memories or ever finding love, giving love, or being loved. A sentence to live an existence alone and without a self."

Yet a small grin began on his face as he continued.

"I found a loop hole. Though I can't tell you, since you work for them and may be the replacement hunter for Agent Frank."

"Oh"

She turned away staring at the floor, not sure what to say now, knowing that one day she would be the one hunting him. But with this new knowledge he had told her, she wasn't sure if she could do so. It seemed like her whole world was just flipped, the way she was trained seemed wrong now. She found herself lost in her world. Rising from the chair he spoke once more.

"Well, I just wanted to say 'hi' to you and wish you luck on taking Agent Frank's position."

He bowed gracefully toward her and faded out of view. She turned back to her cluttered floor, staring past it.