A / N : Reposted and re-edited. Flames will be used to make delicious smores shared between my beta and I. :)
u n d e r c o v e r
p r o l o g u e
The sound of water dripping from the ceiling echoed across the dank and dimly lit room. The air was damp and chilly, with mould gathered in the corners. A man shivered as he walked into the chamber – more appropriately, a subterranean cavern, unsuited for occupants other than rodents. His breath swirled in clouds before him as he squinted around him nervously, looking for other signs of life. A rat skittered by his foot. He let out a small yelp and cursed softly.
"Do you have it?"
The cold voice resonated across the room. The man froze, eyes roving around the room, trying to locate the speaker.
"Where are you?" he muttered, taking a step forward.
He let out a small shriek. A tall spectral figure had materialized not two inches in front him, its harsh yellow eyes glowing in the shadows.
"I am here," the cold voice continued. "Do you have what I asked for?"
The man took a step back, trying to calm himself. He reached into the pocket of his jacket, and held out a tattered piece of paper, folded once over.
"H – Here it is," he ventured shakily.
A claw-like hand snatched the paper out of the man's hand. The tall figure, still hidden in the shadows, closed its eyes.
The man cleared his throat tentatively.
"Er – sir –" he managed in a hoarse voice, "–you said something about a reward?"
The figure nodded slowly.
"I did," it said slowly. "Tell me, how much did you see?"
"Not mu–" the man started and then stopped. His eyes widened in horror before he turned on his heel and raced out of the room, as fast as he could.
Eyes still closed, the figure sighed deeply.
"Stop him," it said heartlessly. A moment later, there was the sound of gunfire, and the sound of the man's footfalls and ragged breathing stopped. Somewhere outside the room, a body dropped to the ground with a sickening thud.
The figure opened its eyes.
"Clean it up," it ordered. "I want no trace of it to be seen anywhere."
Slowly, the long, tapering fingers unfolded the piece of paper. The harsh yellow eyes brightened maliciously as the contents of the page came into view. This was the original copy. There were lines connecting names, as he had suspected, but now confirmed to be in existence.
"I have taken care of most of you," it breathed quietly. "But now – the rest of you will not be spared either."
His eyes focused on the first new name, emblazoned in bold black lettering.
"I'll start with you…"
That evening, somewhere far away from the underground chamber, a man entered the penthouse apartment of a luxe condominium in the heart of a metropolitan city.
"They know," Xiao-Lang said grimly, to the other two men in the room. "He was attacked this afternoon. Fujitaka-san."
Gravity descended upon the room.
"He will not survive," one of the men said gravely.
"He might," Xiao-Lang argued. "He is receiving utmost medical care from our doctors."
"He will not survive," the other man in the room repeated, more firmly. "For his own good. Convey the message to Nadeshiko. Tell her that Fujitaka-san is dead."
Xiao-Lang Li's lips compressed into a thin line.
"I'll do it," he said icily. "I just hope you know what you're doing."
He turned to leave the room. As he placed his hand on the doorknob, one of the men hailed him.
"And Li?" he called. "Pick up the child on the way."
Xiao-Lang nodded, understanding.
"They are after you and your child," Xiao-Lang said to Nadeshiko in a low voice. "I'm not supposed to be telling you this, but–"
"Children," Nadeshiko corrected, her face as white as the hospital bedsheets that she laid sprawled on. "Are you sure?"
"They already have your other child," Xiao-Lang said, heavily. "Touya."
Nadeshiko's eyes widened. "What?"
"I was ordered to pick up the other one," Xiao-Lang said. "Is it a boy, or a girl?"
"A girl," Nadeshiko said, eyes shining. "She was born two days ago."
She picked up the sleeping baby from the crib next to her and placed it into Xiao-Lang's arms.
"She's very pretty," Xiao-Lang commented softly. "She's the image of her father–"
Nadeshiko's eyes looked pained.
"She's strong," she said softly.
"She will be," Xiao-Lang stated rather reassuringly. "What's her name?"
"Sakura," Nadeshiko breathed, barely more than a whisper.
"It suits her," Xiao-Lang said absently. "Nadeshiko, I hate to do this, but –"
Nadeshiko smiled softly even though her eyes were filled with pain.
"You're going to take her from me, aren't you?" she asked in a small voice. "Even though she's all I have left?"
"If all goes as planned –" Xiao-Lang lowered his voice until it was hardly audible, "-she will not have to go very far. As long as they never find out that I took her…"
"Will she be safe with you?" Nadeshiko asked.
"Don't you trust me?" Xiao-Lang asked. "I told you she wouldn't go very far."
Nadeshiko sighed.
"Take her, then," she said, her voice shaking. "It is selfish of me to even consider keeping her–"
"Never say that," Xiao-Lang said, scowling, as he laid a hand on the woman's shoulder. "The youngest of my children isn't even five years old, and I would die before I let him disappear from my life. For a mother to give up her daughter, who's barely two days old…I can't imagine how hard this must be for you."
Nadeshiko's large green eyes met Xiao-Lang's lined amber ones.
"Do you promise?" she asked wistfully. "That I will see her again?"
"Long before the end," Xiao-Lang assured her.
Nadeshiko nodded, closing her eyes.
"Then take her," she whispered. "And thank you, Xiao-Lang. For everything."
Barely ten minutes after Xiao-Lang had exited Nadeshiko's room with Sakura in his arms, the sounds of gunfire could be heard across the hospital grounds. Within one hour, all entrances and exits of the hospital building were barred and guarded by hooded figures wielding guns. Inside the hospital itself, more of these menacing guerillas patrolled the hallways, poking their heads into rooms, occasionally removing a specific somebody from the room they were in.
The siege at the hospital lasted for three days, during which the police force battled with the besiegers to regain control of the hospital. On the dawn of the third day, before the last of the night had disappeared, the menacing hooded captors vanished, leaving no trace of who they were or from where they came. They left no dead either.
They did not leave alone, however. A painstaking search of the hospital grounds identified that the men had taken exactly one hundred people along with them. Names were printed out, posters and missing ads put up all over the city. Two agonizing weeks later, nine bodies were found randomly distributed about the city. These nine bodies were identified and returned to their grieving families, if they had any, and were promptly attended to by formal burial rites.
The remaining ninety-one victims were never found. Weeks turned into months, and months turned into years, though neither the mysterious hooded men nor their hostages were ever seen again.
Nadeshiko Kinomoto had been one of the hundred taken captive. Her body was never found.
Meanwhile, two days after the hospital had been besieged, another body was found, in an abandoned alley on the other side of the city. The body belonged to an adult male, possibly in his early thirties, who had been shot to death by one sniper's bullet, lodged cleanly in his brain. There had been a child in his arms when he was found. There was a gash on the back of her head, and it was probable that she had not been fed for two days, maybe even three. The infant was brought promptly to medical care, while the man was brought to a laboratory to be identified.
Within six hours, the dead man's body disappeared as well. The police, losing interest, returned to their work on the siege of the hospital.
The infant recovered, to the astonishment of her doctors, sustaining no permanent damage from her ordeal at three days of age. But no one came to claim her and no one publicized a missing child. A dilemma presented itself when the baby girl with the cap of red curls recovered, because she could not remain in the hospital any longer. She couldn't understand this as the doctors and nurses regarded her sadly, lying on her side, her wide green eyes observant and intelligent. She had no family, no shelter, nothing in this world to call her own. Her struggle for life had begun much too early. But she faced them determinedly, her gaze unwavering, and they knew she would be formidable. The next day, she was put up for adoption.
She was, and would be, a fighter to the last.
D i s c l a i m e r : I own nothing.
A / N : To readers of the original Undercover, I promise you that you won't be disappointed. But some things had to change. There were glaring plot discrepancies which were really starting to tie me down, and Saku/Syao's characters were borderline Mary Sues – which is never a good thing. So…change is good.
Many heartfelt thanks to the demi-goddess Yukina for taking on the challenge of being my beta. S2
The more reviews I get, the quicker the first chappie comes up. Fact of life.
So…
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Press the button right there and type in something nice, even if it is just "I'm passing on the love". :D
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-Rimjhim