Close Encounters (Bi-Han/Sub-Zero x Reader)

Close Encounters of the Last Kind

But then fire engulfed him. It was all around him, loud and thrashing. You squeezed your eyes shut and covered your ears to muffle his scream. It didn't do much to muffle the sound.

You awoke thrashing and crying. Your chest heaving as you shot forward in bed.

He did die. He would die. And there was nothing you could do to stop it.

"What is it? Are you hurt?!" Bi-Han's voice cut through your terror. Concern blanketed his features, his eyes wide as held your head in his hands before checking you over for any injuries. When he found none, he looked back to your face, searching for some clue as to what ails you.

You shook your head, trying to stifle another sob but it crashed through you regardless. He took you in his arms then, tugging you into his lap as he held you close to his bare chest. He wasn't any good at comfort, it wasn't in his nature, but he knew that letting you feel held, feel protected, couldn't hurt. You didn't know what else to do other than just let him hold you.

"Are you alright?" He asked once your breathing evened a little. The very sight of his features looking so soft, so genuine had your stomach lurching again but you fought back another wave of tears as you nodded quickly. You couldn't quite speak just yet and he didn't press you to. He just held you and petted over your skin in soft, comforting circles.

"You had another vision?" He asked, and you nodded again, wiping the tears from your eyes and attempting to even your breath.

"I did." You sniffed, "And it confirmed my suspicions of your fate." More tears fell and you tried to clear them in vain, "I'm sorry," You laughed but it came out a croak, "I've just told you you're going to die in a few days, I shouldn't be the one crying. It just kills me that there's nothing I can do to stop it."

He pulled you back into his embrace then, kissing your temple repeatedly and pressing as much of your skin to his and you flung to him, revelling in the solidness of his form. "I am sorry you had to see that."

"Don't be." You squeezed him so tightly you were sure it must have hurt, "I'm so sorry. You don't deserve such a death."

"Trust that I do deserve the most painful of ends." Your eyes snapped up to meet his, searching his face for some rhyme or reason as to why he thought that way, "You know little of the horrors I have committed, or the pain I have inflicted in the name of my clan. When death comes for me, I shall welcome him..." He kissed your forehead now, seeming relieved to finally voice those words, "But you, you have a long life ahead of you and I intend to ensure that you get to spend those years free."

He meant that. He would see to it that Shang allowed you to walk free if it was the last thing he did.

"You're willing to throw away your life to honour your clan?" He didn't need you to say that to know he died in their service. It was how he wanted to die. He wouldn't have it any other way.

"Without question." If there was even a sprinkling of hesitation in his voice you would have told him everything. How he would have a chance to walk away and all he had to do was take it. "My only purpose is to serve the Lin Kuei and I will do so until my dying breath." Despite everything they took from him, the life he was forced to lead, he would die and kill in their name in an instant... but why?

Should he not have the freedom to forge his own path?

He paused. Looking past you as if in deep thought, his brows furrowed. Until he met you he would have said he would have kept fighting, kept killing and fulfilling his duties as their loyal assassin until his final day but now he wasn't so sure. In truth, he hadn't the faintest idea what he might do given the chance to be free of their grasp. It seemed you were both prisoners in a way, at least he was until the day he began to enjoy what they asked him to do. Killing came as second nature to him now but it wasn't always that way.