Firewall - Leandros FanFiction

The library was probably my favourite place in the world. It was quiet, and I didn't look completely insane with my massive fortress of books. I'd tried going to central park, but sometimes the weather turns, or drunks come about, and that leads to destruction of priceless antiques.

My books, the stuff of legends. Of course, I had a few medical encyclopaedias too, but most of my books were the ones with bios of every single supernatural creature under the sun. I relied on this information wholeheartedly, and I was sure it was reliable, given the fact that most of the stuff in it had been written by the creatures themselves. You could tell by the bragging tone…especially in the puck section. If there was one thing I didn't want to know, it was the mating habits of the horniest race on earth. However, it was still emblazoned in my mind forever.

I was perusing a paragraph about the best way to spot a wood nymph without it spotting you. Why I needed to know this, I wasn't sure, and it turned out someone else didn't get it either. He almost gave me a heart attack as I suddenly felt warm breath on my neck, and for a moment my hand flickered bright red, and considering the situation, that was remarkably mellow.

"I need that book." Right. Not only was he being a creepy creep thing, but he was also trying to steal my book. I didn't use library books if I could avoid it, they always got so worn out. I trusted my little gems, and only them.

"Sorry, this belongs to me." I said in return, my tone even as I turned to face the man. Well, that was odd. I sincerely doubted he would want to handle anything outside of the children's section. Yet, here he was, asking for my book that had words even I didn't understand. Not to toot my own horn, but I knew a lot about a lot. I'd spent years of my life studying the mythical and medical, so I had a right to think myself at least a little bit learned.

Unfortunately, my short explanation didn't seem to appease the scraggy haired, leather wearing thug of a man. "Yeah, but I really need that book." He persisted, much to my amazement. "Or, a couple pages of it."

Enter creepy thug number two. "Sorry, is he bothering you?" He asked, far more sedate than the first one. But, he was still tall and muscular and generally scary. He also wanted my book. I was not amused. "Could we just borrow it for a few minutes? We'll have it back to you as soon as we've copied a few pages."

The choice was not mine.  Although the blonde appeared intelligent enough to speak instead of get into an altercation, the first one seemed far too angry and agitated to just talk things out. I wasn't the bravest woman in the world, and so I just handed the book over wordlessly, glad to see them walk away from me. A part of me didn't even care if I never got my book back, just so long as they left me alone.

That was not to be. The two men soon returned, and now they both looked decidedly wary. I just stared at them, wondering if my green eyes would deflect them. That would be one cool super power, and unfortunately, it wasn't one I had. They sidled up to me and proceeded to flank me without hesitation. Now I knew I was trapped, and I couldn't think of one thing that I could do to escape. Or at least, not something that wouldn't kill hundreds of innocent people.

My heart jumped into my throat as I felt the steel of a small dagger put to the back of my neck. I was also surprised it wasn't a gun, seeing as that was what everyone in New York had, but apparently these guys were different, not to mention more sensible. A gun was easy to see, a tiny little knife, not so much.

"Are you working for Ignatius?" The black haired man growled, not mincing his words at all. I wasn't surprised. However, I was extremely surprised to hear that name again. It was one I had buried deep down inside myself, and  now it was being thrown back at me again.

My answer came in an unconvincing murmur, "No. But, nothing." Why would I reveal something so personal to them? I barely understood it myself, and I reckoned the first admission of even knowing Ignatius would grant a whole barrage of extra questions.

As it happened, they were going to question me further anyway. To be honest, it wasn't any surprise, for one I was one of the worst liars known to man or beast, and second. Well, there was something off about the moody one. I wasn't about to ask what it was, I just wanted to get away from it. So, I told Tamsin to stay calm, took a deep breath and listened.

"Just save us the time and admit it." Why couldn't blondie step in? He was so much more normal, in every sense of the word. "You stink of fire, you just happen to be in the same library as us, with very well near the only translated copy of the book we need, and you know nothing? Right."

This time the one with hair longer than my own spoke up, raising a good point, "The only reason to bring a book as priceless as that to a public library would be to draw someone out of hiding." He was good. He was wrong, but that didn't mean his deductive skills weren't brilliant.

Now, to set them both straight. "I come here pretty much every day, just ask a librarian. I can't concentrate at home, so I bring everything here." There, plain and simple. I didn't live in a great neighbourhood, and so the sleaze of the place, as well as the noise put me off, hence the trips to the almost silent library.

"I don't buy it." Of course he didn't. I'd ommitted the part about why I had that aura of fire around me, just as he had neglected to explain why he had despair and psychosis written on his face. We were both as deceptive as each other. Well, not qwuite, because I chose to come clean.

"I'm a phoenix. Well - half phoenix." Before I could continue, the pale skinned angst master dove right in with a painfully predictable:

"Wait. A person fucked a bird? How the hell does that work?" The story of my life. Sure, I'd told only two or three people, but everyone always had the same thing to say. It was annoying, though probably not as annoying as it could have been had my parents actually been man and beast. They were human, both of them. Not an ounce of anything else anywhere. The phoenix came later.

I eventually closed my eyes, sighing deeply as I fought to stay calm, "No. A phoenix was trapped inside my body when I was born, when it escaped -" I cut off, biting my lip sharply as I recalled such pain it was almost other worldly. That sort of thing didn't really leave you, "I died, he brought me back, left some residue behind." There, not too hard.

That did grant me a few seconds of silence, as apparently those two hadn't expected that story. They probably didn't get why I was so forthcoming with the information, or how it was possible at all. Maybe I'd tell them, if they'd just get rid of that damn knife.

"That phoenix wouldn't happen to be Ignatius, would it?" Wow. Someone was on his game today. It was the blonde one, with the plait, pulled so tight I did wonder how many wrinkles he would have if he unclasped it. No matter, it was a silly thought. I simply nodded in return, careful to avoid smashing my neck into the blade, that would be quite a humiliating way to go.

"Look, I don't know what this is about, but I can assure you that anything Ignatius has done - I don't support him. He's mad." I knew betteer than anyone, I'd felt it seeping into me before we had finally parted ways. It had been a bitter parting, but a necessary one. I needed to spread my wings, so to speak. "If I can help, just ask and I'll do whatever I can."

It was the best I could offer themm. Maybe I should have been more loyal to a being I had shared eighteen years of my life with, but I wasn't. A part of me despised him for the pain - both physical and mental - that he had caused me, but a larger part just felt sorrow for everything that had happened since he broke free of my body. I was partly responsible, I knew that, but still, I knew how dangerous that phoenix was, and I wasn't about to let him run rampant.

The two men seemed to be deliberating, judging by the slight tension that gave and released in the blade. But, soon enough there was a decision, shown by the removal of the knife and the dragging of chairs to my table. Good. I was glad I wasn't going to be murdered.