*Stop Hiding*

Phoenix woke to a commotion above and groaned. Her head ached. Her mouth was dry. In her shock and pain, she had been drinking Elliot's stash of alcohol. She drank herself stupid and now paid for it. Though, it had only been an hour or two since meeting her sister, Phoenix knew she had to face the world. Not that she wanted to. She didn't want to see anyone.

"Phoenix!" Elliot's voice echoed from above, behind the door. "Phoenix, I need your help! Please! It's one of your friends! She's dying!"

Phoenix groaned again and got up. She stumbled up the stairs and fumbled with the lock. Then, she fell through, vomiting on the floor.

Silence reigned. She looked around a few minutes later. Her gut roiled again. Advandth was in Ecthrois's arms, Devdan behind and to the side. Aurora was staring at the blood woman with shock and disbelief. And beside Elliot, right in front of Phoenix, was Onyx.

He bent and squared down to her level, brown eyes searching hers. "I need you to help Advandth. She's hurt and barely breathing."

Phoenix looked to Advandth and closed her eyes. She waited for the world to stop spinning, waited for the fog to clear her head. But none of that happened. "Elliot, kitchen," she croaked. Elliot hurried away. She looked to Ecthrois and Devdan. "Upstairs. First door on the right. On the bed. Towels in the bathroom. Wash her down gently."

Devdan blushed. Ecthrois stiffened. "I don't think-"

"Aurora, you do it."

Aurora turned horrified eyes to Phoenix. "You want me to wash her! But she's so gross! She's-"

"You either help me help my friend, or I don't care who you are, I'll throw you out."

Aurora's jaw dropped. Phoenix didn't care.

"Devdan, there's a study upstairs. You'll find a desk. In one of the drawers is a bottle of alcohol. Grab it. I'll meet you all up there in a minute."

Ecthrois, Aurora, and Devdan dispersed. Phoenix was now alone with Onyx. She didn't want to be alone with him. She didn't want anything to do with him at the moment. Slowly, she got up and stood. She clutched the wall for support and breathed deeply. Onyx held his arms out for her, but she stepped back, almost falling downstairs.

"Phoenix, let me help."

She shook her head. "Get out."

He didn't move.

"I need to help Advandth. I do not need you barring my path to her. Nor do I need to hear you say anything. I don't need you touching me, or aiding me, or anything. I just need you to get out."

"I'm not leaving her."

Phoenix sighed. "Then get out of the way."

Onyx didn't move still, but Elliot shoved his way over and brought a box to Phoenix. She took it and went with her friend to the stairs. Slowly, she climbed up and entered the bedroom. Aurora was there, using a wet cloth to wash away the blood covering Advandth. Devdan and Ecthrois waited in the bathroom, giving a modicum of privacy.

Phoenix went and sat beside Advandth on the bed. "I keep washing the blood, but she's still bleeding," Aurora whispered.

"Do you see?"

Aurora nodded, then her mind realized what Phoenix was truly asking. "You want me to stitch her up?"

Phoenix nodded. "I can't. I'd make everything worse. Elliot can't sew to save his life. And the others are being polite to her, so they won't come in here until she's covered. It will have to be you."

Aurora pouted, but quickly and efficiently took a needle and thread and began working. As she did so, Phoenix directed Elliot to dab away fresh blood. She then called into the other room for Devdan to soak a towel in the alcohol and warm water.

It only took Aurora a few minutes to stitch Advandth up. When she finished, Elliot dabbed the wet cloth from Devdan and came back, placing it gently on the wound. Advandth whimpered. Phoenix then asked Elliot to remove the trousers.

At this, Aurora demanded all men out. She glared at Phoenix, as if she had caused all this. When every man was out of the room with the door closed, Aurora found scissors and began to cut the trousers. "I hadn't believed Elliot and Onyx when they said you knew how to kill, that you were as hard as them." She set the scissors down and gently moved the fabric away. "Now I believe them."

Phoenix said nothing to her confession. She just said, "Wet another cloth with warm water. Hold it between there."

Aurora followed directions. She continued to follow Phoenix's directions for the next hour, protesting only when Phoenix asked her to look at Advandth's private area.

Finally, Aurora got a lift blanket and laid it on Advandth as a sort of towel or robe, then laid warmer ones over her, up to her chin.

Phoenix's head had finally cleared and she wasn't so clumsy. Her eyes could focus and she could walk on her own. She went to the bathroom and dropped the dirty and bloodied cloths into the sink, thinking to take care of them later.

"Soliel?"

"I haven't gone by that name for years," Phoenix whispered.

She felt Aurora's eyes on her. "Do you want me to leave so you can forget I'm alive?"

Phoenix didn't move. She didn't speak.

"You know? Onyx has been a rude man to me? Elliot has been quiet but also rude?"

"Onyx is a hard ass. He isn't a soft man. Elliot is only rude when someone he cares about is doing something he doesn't believe is safe."

"I don't think either liked me being here. They don't like me being around. I think it's because we look so much alike." She paused. "Or because I can be insufferable."

Phoenix gave a chuckle. "I doubt it's the insufferable part. You're nothing compared to me." She turned and leaned against the counter, facing her sister. "I don't want you to leave unless you want it."

"But you hardly said anything before disappearing into the basement and then drank yourself until you could hardly talk."

"I have been going through a lot, Aurora. I've been betrayed. I've been hunted. I've been hunting. I've had to rescue my best friend. I had to rescue another man who's imprisonment was because he saved my life. Finding out that my sister is actually alive was what tipped me over the edge. I needed to escape. I needed to take away the pain and suffering for a brief period of time."

Aurora looked slightly green at Phoenix's hardships, but slowly nodded.

"When I saw that the robbers entered the house, I had thought they killed both you and mother. Then father ran in, and he got killed. Our brother was killed from behind. I only made it because of someone's kind heart. Everyday, every moment, I think about what I could have done to save at least one other member."

"You couldn't have done anything though," Aurora said softly. "You were a child. How were you to know what to do? How could you have saved anyone?"

"By grabbing Lucent's hand and running immediately after father ran inside."

After a long silence, they left both the bedroom and bathroom, leaving the bedroom door open so they could hear if Advandth was awake, and went downstairs. There, Elliot, Onyx, Ecthrois, and Devdan sat at the table with another man Phoenix recognized but didn't know.

Onyx stood at the sight of them and said, "This is Rokr. He is another friend."

Phoenix eyed Rokr, but went into the kitchen and found a bottle of water. Elliot followed after her. "How is she?"

"Won't know until she wakes." She turned and gave him a small smile. "Thanks for allowing me to stay down there as long as you did."

"You drank my beers."

"And for that."

Elliot shrugged. "You owe me beer."

"I'll get you more."

They stayed in a comfortable silence until Onyx came in. Both became alert. Elliot because of the argument he had with the other man earlier that day. Phoenix because of…well everything.

"I just wanted to thank you for helping her. I don't know what happened, but I knew it was bad when Neclord kept her for hours."

Phoenix straightened. "Neclord did this?"

"He must have been pissed."

"She is barely alive, Onyx!" Phoenix took a step closer, hands itching to go for a knife. "She was tortured! Humiliated! What could she have possibly done that warranted such cruelty?"

Onyx shook his head.

Behind him, Devdan walked up and nervously looked at Phoenix. "She said something about prisoners."

Phoenix thought for a long moment, then cursed. She glanced at Elliot, knowing he understood exactly what was wrong, then stalked away. "Phoenix!" Onyx called after her. She ignored him and headed for the front door. "Phoenix! Stop!"

She opened the door but Onyx caught her arm as she stepped out. "Let me go or I will not hesitate to gut you where you stand."

"You can't barge into Ironshade and threaten the Boss. You will be dead before you enter the building."

She turned and glared up into his brown eyes. "So, you will let this continue until Advandth is dead or broken, without revenge?"

He stepped closer to her. "No. I'm saying to think this through. He wants you to go there in a rage because then you aren't thinking. Because then, he will back stab you while your guard is down."

"Sounds like someone else I know."

Onyx narrowed his eyes. "Phoenix, if you let me-"

"No!" She wrenched her arm out of his grip and glared daggers at him. "I won't let you do anything! You don't have the right!"

She turned and was about to storm away when she heard, "Gavida let me explain. She knows everything."

Closing her eyes, Phoenix remembered how Gavida said Onyx was regretful, how she had listened to him and saw truth in his words. The dragon could be tricked, but not like this. They understood pain more than anyone.

When she spoke, her voice was broken, barely a whisper. "If Advandth wakes, Elliot knows where the pills are to knock her out. Aurora can stitch up any wounds she reopens but that shouldn't happen. I will be back in the morning."

"Phoenix-"

"I'm not going to Ironshade," she said, cutting Onyx off. "But I can't think right now. I need to be alone."

"What if we need to find you?"

Phoenix shook her head. "You won't. Aurora and Elliot can handle everything fine. Elliot knows the house. Aurora can do medical stuff. Everything will be fine."

As she began to walk, slowly as thoughts bounced around in her head, she heard Onyx one more time. "I'm sorry."