The soft tick of the clock filled the heavy silence in the dark kitchen. A single bulb above the stove cast a hazy sphere of yellow light that did little to illuminate the people there. Ana and Ginny were missing. Ginny hadn't been able to stay in the same room with Rémy without hyperventilating. She'd been tasked with watching over Ana, who'd eventually been given sedatives and sent into the outer sitting room. The rest of them stood in the semi-darkness, absorbing the reality of their circumstances, which were, for some, astonishingly connected.

Ikeno was the first to break the long silence, irritation over the situation overriding her fear of Benjamin Masters. 

"If everyone wants Ginny, what are you going to do, Masters?"

"Like I'll tell you." His growl was soft, the edge of his features highlighted by the glow of his cigarette. Uncomfortable, Ikeno looked away.

"We're in this together, Benji-"

"Shut your trap before I break it, Tony."

"Why don't you-!"

"Rémy," Ikeno turned to look at him.

"What! He walks in here like he's in charge of what's going to happen, and I'm sick of it!" Fierce blue eyes clashed against turquoise. "Let him prove it!"

"Anytime, French."

"That's it-!"

"Stop!" Ginny's strident tone froze them as they all looked toward where she stood in the doorway hugging herself, primal fear and desperation painted across her face. Thin fingers were curled into shaking fists as her gaze locked with Ji's. "Stop this! We're here because we need help, aren't we? We need help!"

"Like a whore knows what she's talking about."

Ji moved so fast no one reacted until Rémy staggered back, hitting the counter behind him. Spice containers clattered together as three dull thuds and a groan filled the brief gap between Rémy's cutting remark and his croak of pain. Powerful fingers twisted into his shirtfront, keeping him from hitting the floor.

"If you say one more word to her, I'll rip out your tongue and shove it down your throat."

"That isn't helping," Ikeno offered quietly, slowly moving toward them. Ji backed away, giving them room. "Ginny is right. We need to stop fighting each other."

"It's not like we're on the same side, exactly," Tony mentioned from where he stood near the back door. "But... we're not enemies. At least, we don't have to be. We could help each other out."

"So, I'm going to ask you again," helping Rémy stand, pulling some paper towels to help staunch the blood running from his face, Ikeno faced Ji. "What are you going to do?"

"Go to ground," he answered after a moment, sliding a sideways glance at Ginny that she avoided. Despite her initial relief at seeing him earlier, she'd been distant, and he knew she was hurt and scared. "We'll find a place to just disappear."

"There aren't too many of those," Tony kept the conversation going, hoping to come to some sort of agreement where they all walked away. "Axis has a long reach."

"Don't forget the person who shot you," Rémy's sarcasm didn't go unnoticed. Hard turquoise eyes swung in his direction, burning in the dim light. "That's a fun little distraction that needs to be dealt with on top of everyone you know hunting you down."

"Then," slowly letting out a cloud of smoke, Ji shrugged "I'll have to give them something else to think about."

"What do you mean?"

"Tony, you remember that time we were feuding with the Brawlers, and they torched the boss's warehouse?"

"Sure,"

"What'd we do, you and me?"

"We went on an arson spree," Tony was beginning to smile, catching on. "Five buildings in two nights. All Cobra territory. We left the Brawlers call signs to throw them off,"

"Gave the Brawlers something else to think about," steel glinted in deep sea-green eyes as Ji smiled wickedly, feeling a spike of his old self stirring. "I figure that's exactly what I'll do."

"You can't just march into some Axis division and think any trouble you start can be blamed on another division. They're more organized than that." Sousa's protest brought Ji's laser-focus to where Ikeno stood next to Rémy.

"I'm not going to cause trouble. I'm going to kill people. Enough that it throws the entire organization into chaos. And I'm going to start in Marseille."

"You can't!" Ginny's agonized protest turned him, seeing light reflecting off her wide eyes. Terror was carved into pale features. "Ji, you can't, he's... he's a monster,"

Moving toward her, hoping she wouldn't avoid him, Ji held her gaze as he closed the distance to an arm's length. His rasp lowered to the softest grit of sandpaper, scraping over her skin enough to raise goosebumps.

"What am I, Ginny?"

Her gaze flicked around the room, anxious about having others witness their interaction, but he moved to block her view. A wall of flesh, blood, and heat. Impenetrable. Musk soaked in cigarette smoke, wrapped in electric eyes and toe-curling magnetism.

"Don't worry about them," he urged her. "Focus on me. What am I? What did we decide?"

"...you're a... demon that, eats monsters..."

"Darn skippy I am,"

"I... I don't want you to go," pleading, her lips twisted with the effort to not cry. "Please, Ji... don't go,"

"This is what I'm good at, Mouse. I'm going to do this for you."

"If I don't want you to, then it's not for me," she argued. "This is about you."

"What do I care about Axis, or any of that? The only reason it matters is because they're a threat to you."

"You can protect me! You promised!"

"This is how-!"

"I don't want you to go!"

"Come on," he snapped, beginning to lose his patience with being yelled at. "You know what I can do, Ginny! Nothing will happen to me!"

"You can't know that! You don't know for sure, and you've already been hurt!"

"Listen-!"

"What about the baby!" It felt like all the air was sucked from the room, every heartbeat freezing as the five of them went absolutely still. Then Ginny's ragged breathing broke the spell as she backed away, shaking her head. "If you go, he'll kill you. If he does that, who will protect me? Who's going to protect our baby?"

No one spoke as she hugged herself tight before spinning around to rush from the kitchen. After a moment Ikeno moved to follow.

"I'll make sure she's okay, and give her a room to sleep in." Dark eyes flitted briefly to Ji. "You're safe here, at least for one night."

After they'd left, Ji's big hands curled into shaking fists, shoulders hunched. Tony cleared his throat uncomfortably as Rémy's scowl dug lines into his forehead.

"She's pregnant?" Heavy silence answered him, so he took a few slow steps forward, coming into the range of Ji's side view. "Wow. You've got cajónes, Benji."

"And no brains whatsoever." Rémy's sharp tone spun them both. He stood, arms crossed over his chest, glaring. "Darche is going to take his time killing you, and I can't even imagine what he'll do when he finds her. Jesus, what were you doing out there? Acting like a pair of-"

"Here's what I'm sure of." Moving toward him, imposing, confident, Ji's expression was stony. "What I do, with Ginny or not, will never be any of your business. So, if you want to live, stop talking."

"Easy Benji," a light hand touched his shoulder. Familiar. Echoes of brotherhood and camaraderie. "We're not enemies, remember?"

"Fighting on the same side doesn't make us friends, either," a snarl pulled the edge of his lips back. "You I'll put up with. Him, I'd bury without a second thought."

"Likewise."

Two alpha males facing off, Ji and Rémy stood face to face, silently measuring the other, calculating risk and weakness, gearing for a fight for dominance.

"Not in my kitchen." Ikeno's stern voice cut between them an instant before the slender body inserted itself into the narrow space. Firm hands pushed flat on Ji's chest, demanding he back up even as Sousa took measured steps back, forcing Rémy to give way. The stalemate was broken, but not over. "Masters, down the hall, last door on the left.

"Tony, if you'd like to sleep here, you can have the first door on the right. The bathroom is between the two. My room is just through there," Ikeno pointed to a doorway on the far side of the kitchen. "Why don't we all just... sleep on this."

"Sounds good," a guiding hand was on Ji's shoulder. "Come on, Benji. I'll fix your shoulder, and we could both use some sleep."

"One thing," immovable, Ji hadn't moved more than a few steps, and Tony braced himself from some graphic kind of death threat. Instead, turquoise pools went to Sousa, and stayed there. "I appreciate your help. We were running out of options, and... I don't have anywhere else to go."

"We'll talk tomorrow," Ikeno assured him quietly. "Get some rest."

***

His shoulder hurt like the Devil's own firepit. Painkillers had only taken the worst of the edge off, nothing more. Sitting in the dark, his back against the wall, one leg bent, one stretched flat, his arm rested on his knee, a lit cigarette dangling between his fingers. Tony slept on the bed nearby, gargling. It wasn't really a snore, but Ji found it irritating and had to continually quell the urge to smother him with a pillow.

After having Tony dig the bullet out of his shoulder and bandage it, Ji hadn't gone to see Ginny. Let her be angry. It would be better if she held onto that fury. At least, he tried to convince himself of that to fight off his guilt.

Big bad Benji. Mad Dog. Bite first and hardest, make the other person bleed, then keep going until they are dead. Where had that come from, after so many years had gone by? Silently shaking his head, Ji blew a cloud of smoke from his lips, dissatisfied with himself.

Ginny was right to be afraid, and angry. He'd slipped far too easily into his old self. Kill the threat, regardless of the consequences of danger. Now that he'd agreed to take on the role of father and protector, he didn't have the right to go barreling in the first direction instinct pointed him toward. From now on, he couldn't just- a soft sound turned his head, everything inside him going silent.

Rising smoothly, he dropped his smoke into Tony's glass of water as he passed it, easing toward the door. A muffled cry made him stiffen, scowling as he tilted his head. The muted scream shot him through the door like a cannon, racing down the short hall to slam into Ginny's room. Another smothered screech of terror had him diving under the bed, catching hold of a writhing, twisting form. Dragging her to him, he took a wickedly hot rake of nails across his neck before trapping her hands.

"Ginny," holding her tight, his mouth was next to her ear. "Wake up... you're safe."

"Non," shuddered breaths broke her voice into pieces. "He's going to hurt me. He's going to hurt me, and I can't stop him,"

"I won't let him hurt you, Mouse, okay?" God-blasted frilly pink flamingos! His heart constricted as she whimpered, each breath painful. "No one will hurt you again."

"I can't stop him,"

"I'm going to stop him, Ginny." Gathering her closer to him, feeling her entire body tremble, Ji nuzzled his nose into her hair. "Do you believe me?"

"Non..." sniffling, still mostly asleep, her clenched fingers dug painfully into his arms as she clung to him. "You can't stop him... you can't,"

"Why not, Mouse,"

"... he's you,"

Stiffening, a cold pit formed in his stomach, making it harder to breathe. The nightmare was him? His grip had turned into a death squeeze, fully waking her up.

"Ji, what are you doing?"

"Saving you from a nightmare?"

"No... please let go,"

Surprised but obliging, Ji loosened his arms, feeling her wiggle away, rigidly pushing free from him.

"Where are we?"

"Argentina, Ikeno Sousa's bungalow."

"Did you talk to him?"

"Him?"

"Yes, him," Venom threaded her tone as she kicked from under the bed, wiggling into the open. "Him, Ji!"

"Dubois?"

Following her, Ji's eyes hooded as she scooched farther from him, knees drawn up defensively to her chest, jaw set though she wouldn't look at him.

"You mean Gabriel Darche." Stricken, her gaze was pulled toward him, starlight reflecting off the tears in her eyes. "No, I don't know him, and I haven't talked to him. About you are anything else... but I did talk with Rémy Dubois. Ginny," her stomach clenched as she watched him come close. "Do you remember who you are?"

Lips quivering, her head began to shake as desperation flooded her voice as it wavered.

"...I'm not going to talk about that. I can't talk about that. I won't,"

"You have to."

"No!" The abrupt scream shattered the air trapped between them, the atmosphere suddenly thick. "I won't!"

"Ginny,"

"Stop it!" Sharply lashing at him, slender fists thudded into his chest, frantic words pouring from her. "I won't talk about that! Why are you asking me this! You said you wouldn't ask me any questions about that! You promised me!"

"It's too late for that, Ginny."

"No!" Burying her face behind her drawn-up knees, she clamped her hands over her ears. "Don't talk about that!"

"You're safe, Mouse," shifting closer, he reached out, but she slapped his hand away as soon as it touched her hair, lifting her head. Eyes feral, lips pulled back in a snarl, she glared hatefully at him.

"Don't touch me!"

"I know who you're up against, Mouse, and I can protect you-"

"I don't believe you!" Spittle flew from her lips, tears flooding her eyes before spilling down her cheeks. "If you believe what he told you, then you know you can't protect me! You know what's going to happen to me! I hate you for that! I hate you!"

Lips pressed into a firm line, features blank, he stared at her a moment before reaching out to drag her into his arms. She kicked violently, clenched fists pounding against him as hard as she could, wails of protest echoing around the room. Ji took it silently, stiffening his muscles against the wild thrashing and pummeling she was dishing out. Several times she punched the raw wound on his shoulder, but he didn't make a sound. Letting her vent all her hate, fear, and anger on him.

Her cries of rage turned into breathless panting, fists now twisted into his shirt, tugging hard instead of punching him. Stiff tension softened to quaking tremors as she went still. Not limp, but utterly, completely, still. He took a chance.

"Leo wanted to help you, didn't he Ginny, but he went about it all wrong and Darche found out. I won't make that mistake. I'm going to save you."

"You're a liar, just like him." Hissing the words took effort, tears cascading down her cheeks as she stared past his shoulder, haunted by bitter, painful memories. "Get away from me."

Silently pushing to his feet, he stared down at her for a moment, as if deciding whether or not to speak. Then he walked out, quietly closing the door behind him. Biting her bottom lip to prevent tears from falling, she crawled to the bed, picked up the MP3 player on the way and turned it to the playlist she'd been listening to earlier. Shaken, on edge, her raw emotions churning in dark tides inside her, Ginny couldn't think clearly. Between Rémy, the nightmare, and this unexpected outburst with Ji, the thin ice she'd been standing on had shattered.

Nothing in the past ten years had prepared her for life outside the Hotel Caprice. After repeated rape, drugs, alcohol, seduction, and abuse, her ability to learn, adapt, and cope with new stimuli had been crushed to nearly nothing. All she knew and trusted lay with the man she'd just told to leave her alone. Sniffling, swiping the back of her hand across her face, Ginny pushed the earbuds in and blindly hit play.

He'd helped, protected, and provided for her... made her feel safe in a world she knew nothing about. Then he'd hurt her. Somehow it always ended like that, with betrayal, hurt, and emptiness. Yet, it was different with Ji. She'd let down her guard and allowed him into hidden parts of herself she'd been too scared to explore on her own.

What would she do if he didn't come back? What was going to happen when she had the baby?

'...why tip your toes when you could dive in...scared to hurt yourself..." the throaty voice was playingin her ear when the mattress shifted, large, warm hands closing over her thighs. His familiar musk drifted into her nostrils, filling her lungs. Going rigid, startled at not hearing him come in, she kept her eyes closed, drawing in shaky breaths. Was he angry?

Ji pulled her closer, their bent legs touching at the knee, his breath feathering along her cheeks.

"I screwed up," his sincere whisper was rugged. "I'm sorry, Ginny."

Tugging a bud free she blindly reached out, smiling timidly as she felt him guide her hand to his ear. The familiar interaction allowed them both to relax into just being together. For a long time, they sat quietly, listening to the music. When he moved to shift her leg up and over his thigh, she let him.

Warm calloused fingers slid down her arm, lifting her hand to rest against his chest. Solid, steady thumps beat against her palm. She felt him pop open the top buttons, letting her fingers slide beneath the material onto the flesh beneath. Keeping her eyes closed, too frightened to look, she shyly began to explore his skin.

Hot. Smooth. Rock encased in satin. Hard dips and swells. Goosebumps –

Ginny yanked her hand away, but he caught it, gently wrapping his fingers over hers.

"You're safe."

"... do you promise?"

"Always."

"...okay..." The quiver in her voice made his heart pound. Did she have any idea how sexy she was? How beautiful. Laying her palm back over his heart, Ji let her feel the strong beats for a moment, watching as she relaxed. Building the courage to speak to him.

"I know you said you'd hurt me, I know you tried to tell me, but... you abandoned me. You made me come here alone and he- Remy was here, and you weren't." A fingertip slowly began to trace down his chest, following the dip in muscle. "I was so scared, so hurt that you'd do that. I thought... I thought you weren't coming for me and that I'd have to go back to him. Then when you came, you tried to make me talk about before, even though you promised, you tried to make me... and I'm... I'm angry with you,"

"I know."

"I have a right to be angry, Ji... I don't deserve to be treated that way." Her fingertip was near his belly button now, lightly going in circles. "I never want to talk about that, about... before,"

"I know," a large hand reached out, gently cupping her cheek.

"I don't... I mean, can you..." breath coming in gasps, Ginny wouldn't look at him as her palm flattened to his stomach, cold through the fabric of his shirt. "Ji... I..."

"Tell me," He urged in a low rasp, hot, dry fingers tenderly stroking her cheek. "Tell me what you want to say."

"Will you... get mad at me?"

"No."

Lips quivering, she drew in a steadying breath, letting it out slowly, then lifted dark, glimmering eyes to his.

"Don't ever do that to me again."