doubleohblonde | Office Hours [All Day, Tuesday]

"You're wrong about not understanding the impact," Bond said flatly. "You don't think I didn't bind your hands because I thought you'd just lie there like an obedient child, did you?"

"But you made me do it to Seely, anyway, and now you've hidden him away somewhere," she said just as flatly. "There is a line between just punishment and cruelty, and I foolishly thought you were done toeing it last week."

"And since you obviously got the point of last week's exercise, why would I need to do anything further?" Bond asked. "Regardless of what you might believe, I am not a cruel man, I take very little pleasure in the idea of torturing some young fool while babbling like a B-grade movie villain."

"All I know is that he's gone, and you're the only one with motive," Aravis said quietly.

"I don't have a motive," Bond said coolly. "I said I'd consider the matter done with after last Wednesday, and I meant it."

"And I didn't think you could be as cruel as you were last Wednesday, but we're all full of surprises, aren't we?" she said sardonically.

"If I was planning on being cruel I would have killed him while you watched, slowly," Bond replied, matter-of-factly, before he could stop himself.

Aravis froze, perfectly still and wide-eyed as the shock of what he said hit her.

That didn't last long, and instinct took over. Aravis closed the distance necessary and swung her hand at his face as hard as she could.

And, momentarily, longed for a blade.

As soon as he'd said it, Bond had remembered he wasn't talking to a grown woman able to more than hold her own, but rather a frantic teenager, barely more than a child.

Which was why he made no move to stop or avoid her hand as it connected with his cheek, leaving a red mark.

"And you expect me to trust you."

It was a whisper, delivered as coldly as she could. Aravis had gotten her emotions under control, but her voice vibrated with suppressed rage.

"I'm sorry," Bond said quietly. "I shouldn't have said that."

"No, you should not," she agreed quietly. "Unless that is what you are planning, in which instance you should know that I will not allow that to happen."

"I'm not," Bond said softly. "I forgot who I was talking to and went too far in making my point."

Aravis nodded slowly. "I am not her," she said quietly, though he knew that. "I don't know who she was, or what she meant to you, or how you behaved with her, but we are not the same person. Do not threaten my loved ones. I don't have very many anymore. Do it again and a slap will be the least of my actions against you."

Bond looked at her for a long moment. "Sit," he said, opening his desk drawer.

Aravis stared, since that wasn't at all what she had expected, but she sat. If he tried anything, she'd just scream or hit him or something.

Bond took out the bottle of Glenfiddich from the drawer as well as two glasses. He carefully poured out the whisky, then slid one of the glasses across to Aravis. "Drink."

Aravis raised a brow. "What?"

"Drink," Bond repeated, bringing his own tumbler to his lips.

She'd seen him pour from the same bottle. If he was poisoning her, he was poisoning himself as well.

She hesitantly sipped.

"She drowned," Bond said quietly, lowering his glass.

"Oh."

She didn't need to ask who.

"In front of me," Bond added after a moment, gazing thoughtfully at his glass. "The day before I came to this godforsaken island as it happens."

"No wonder you reacted to me as you did," she said quietly, not exactly unkindly.

"The kicker of it all was she didn't have to," Bond said. "I would hardly have held it against her if she'd chosen her own skin over mine."

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