Being posted independently by LilacRose (with permission from Em of course), back by popular demand by several very wonderful requests! A special shoutout to Kauia and Roseinthemoonlight for kicking me in the butt till I got this done!

Chapter 1: A Dream Within A Dream

"All that we see or seem/ Is but a dream within a dream."

-Edgar Allen Poe, A Dream Within A Dream

She had forgotten to close her window, she realized as she closed her eyes tighter against the persistent sunlight. Either that or she was still in Feudal Japan and just didn't remember—that wouldn't surprise her—it had happened before—except she didn't hear any sounds. She usually heard some sounds, even if it was just chirping of birds…

Well, there was only one test…

She turned over onto her back, relishing in the feel of the Serta Perfect Sleeper pillow top mattress and the caress of her blankets on her skin. She sighed contently. She was home, which meant she had left the window open…or Inuyasha had left it open…

She threw her arm over her eyes to block out the light and groaned low in her throat. If she got up, even to close the window, she'd have to stay up. She couldn't go back to sleep and her alarm hadn't even rung yet…it wasn't time for her to…

Her thoughts trailed off as she felt the weight shift on the mattress and the whisper of the bedding as it moved.

'What the…'

"Five more minutes," came the sleepy male voice as a strong, warm arm snaked possessively over her stomach and a warm cheek nuzzled into her neck.

'…Hell?!' Her eyes shot open and she pulled away quicker than a jackrabbit.

"Oi!" complained the voice, thick with sleep.

In her flurry of movements as she tried to get away, she managed two things…one was to thoroughly muss the bedding so that all that was left of the man was a tanned arm and a lump where his body should be under the cream and gold bedding and two was to realize she was naked.

"Ahh!" she yelped, tugging the closest sheet she could get free and wrapping it around her.

The remaining sheets atop the man were pulled away just as quickly and a pair of wide awake gold eyes stared back at her, full of alert worry.

"What is it?!"

She gasped in surprise, almost loosing her grip on the sheets in the process.

He sat up, looking her over from head to toe as if looking for a problem. "What happened?"

"In…" she stammered, temporarily sidetracked by the line of his waist as the sheets moved. Her eyes snapped back to him. "Inu…yasha?"

He quirked his lips in what could have been amusement on anyone else. "Kagome?" he mimicked her tone.

'Holy Shit!' she thought frantically. 'What the hell am I doing in bed with Inuyasha and naked!?'

He was smirking at her. Her surprise turned to anger and she gave in to her usual reaction in such situations.

"SIIITTTT!" she yelled.

Inuyasha's smirk grew. "I am sitting," he said simply.

'What?' her sight went to his neck and realized he wasn't wearing the beads.

"What the..why don't…" she stammered. There were too many things she wanted to ask for her brain and mouth to correspond. She took a deep steadying breath and decided on one question. "What the hell are you doing in my bed!?" she exclaimed in one breath.

Inuyasha's smile faded and his eyes went worried again. "Your bed?" he asked. "Baby, are you alright?"

'Did he just call me…?' her eyes went wide as saucers as she noticed that he had started to stand and the sheet started to slip from off his hip revealing only flesh—

"Eep!" she exclaimed, turning her back to him. "What you doing?!" she exclaimed. The surprise wearing off, her cheeks started to flame from what she almost had a front row seat to seeing.

She heard the movement behind her and squeezed her eyes shut. "Don't move!" she exclaimed, clutching the sheet to her own body in a futile attempt to keep it from falling down her back. 'What the hell is going on here?' she wondered frantically.

"Kagome?" he asked worriedly. "What's going on?"

Kagome started to turn to glare at him but stopped, flipping back around. "That's what I want to know!" she exclaimed, trying to fight off the mounting hysteria. "What are you doing in my bed? My room?"

Inuyasha, for his part, was at a loss for words. He looked around at his surroundings and found no difference in the room than had been there when they went to bed the night before. "Kagome, this is the same room where we…"

"No!" she exclaimed, her cheeks flushing again. "Don't say it!"

Inuyasha frowned, the worry mounting with each moment. "This is our room, Kagome, it hasn't changed."

"Our?" she looked around her, really looked at the off white walls, the cherry wood antique furniture, the soft coloring to the tasteful decorations—it was a beautiful room, but it wasn't hers.

A knock on the door startled her out of her realization. She tried to speak, but no sound came. She looked up as the door opened and Sango's face appeared at the door. "You guys are making too much noise…" Sango started, but stopped as she saw the look on Kagome's face.

'Why is Sango here?' Kagome thought. Her eyes opened even wider as she saw Miroku peek his head above her shoulder.

"Hey, some people are trying to sleep…" he trailed off as he looked from Kagome's face to Inuyasha's behind her. "Is everything alright?"

Kagome felt lost, disoriented. Maybe she wasn't really there at all. "Where am I?" Kagome finally whispered.

Sango looked behind Kagome to Inuyasha's startled and almost fear stricken face. The look of fear on Sango's face was not a comforting sight to Kagome…and then she saw nothing as the black rose up to swallow her conscious.

"What the hell happened?" Miroku asked.

Inuyasha shook his head absently, as he paced across the room. "How the hell should I know?" he growled, before turning back and pacing in the opposite direction. "She woke up like that."

Miroku followed his friend with his eyes. "Call the doctor," Miroku said.

Inuyasha paused only long enough to push back his hair into a ponytail away from his face. He shook his head. "I can't," he said softly.

"Inuyasha-"

He shook his head again, meeting Miroku's eyes. "I can't Miroku. I promised her I wouldn't call the doctor ever again."

Miroku pushed away from the arm of the sofa and resisted the urge to stop Inuyasha from continuing to pace, but thought better of it at the last minute. Still, his frustration was evident in his voice. "Dammit, Inuyasha," he started. "You can't just ignore…"

"I don't want to hear it, Miroku," Inuyasha interrupted his friend. He paused in his pacing momentarily to shake his head. "I can't really blame her…after they did all those tests just because of her abilities…I can't subject her to that again."

"Then call Kaede," Sango spoke as she emerged from the room.

Inuyasha turned to her. "Is she awake?"

Sango shook her head. "She mumbled, but didn't wake—" she sighed. "It was a bitch to get her into the pj's. You guys have to stop sleeping naked."

Inuyasha blushed, but was too worried to respond. He started to walk toward his room but was stopped by Sango's arm.

"Call Kaede," Sango repeated. "She's trying to help her control her abilities..." Sango trailed off, shrugging. "She might know what's going on, or how to snap her out of it."

Inuyasha lowered his head. "Not without talking to her first." He looked almost pained. "I don't want to see that ache on her face anymore." Inuyasha sighed. "She barely kept sane last time," he almost whispered. "I can't…" Inuyasha shook his head emphatically, his hands turning into fists as he turned to them. "…won't make her go through that again."

Neither Sango nor Miroku could argue that. After all, what could they say? Yes, Inuyasha, you need to give Kagome over to be a lab rat again because that's really what is best for her? Sango looked at Miroku and knew, just by the set to his chin that he remembered it, too…that lost, vacant look to Kagome's eyes after Inuyasha was finally able to get her out of that place…and she knew also that they would do anything they could to keep that look out of Kagome's face, no matter what it took.

"Well, whatever you decide, Inuyasha," Sango spoke up softly.

"We'll back you up," Miroku finished. "Whatever you need."

Inuyasha looked at his friends and nodded. With Miroku and Sango at his side, he knew they could figure this out. They were the best team out there, after all. No one could outsmart or beat them when they worked together.

He heard it when her breathing changed, going from deep and regular to just slightly more shallow. He looked out the door of the living room as if he could see through the walls, up the stairs and into the room where she was, and although he couldn't, he could feel it as consciousness was starting to return to her unconscious mind. He really wished that she would wake up, screaming at him for not having woken her up for work and bitching about stupid alarm clocks. The half smile that had stolen across his lips at the memory faded as he felt the distance between them…a distance he hadn't felt for so many years the loss of her was like an ache. He sighed as he realized that whatever it was that had come over her was still there, for that distance to be there.

Inuyasha turned to Miroku who was suddenly at his side. He forced a smile and patted his shoulder. "Thanks, Miroku, but right now, what I really need is for you both to get your butts in gear and go to work…we can't all stay in or we won't get paid."

Miroku grinned wryly. "So, why do you get to stay in, huh?" he called out cheekily.

"Cause I'm the boss," Inuyasha answered as he walked out of the living room.

"I thought this was a partnership!" Miroku called out after him, resorting to the same old line he knew would always make them laugh. He waited and didn't hear Inuyasha's laughter, and he turned to Sango.

Sango opened her mouth to speak, when Inuyasha's voice floating back down to them.

"I'll remind you of that the next time we have to take a freebie!"

Sango closed her mouth with a chuckle. "I guess he'll be all right," Sango whispered to Miroku as they walked to the front door.

Miroku handed Sango her overcoat and briefcase, grinning. "We'll make sure of that, won't we?"

Sango tried to read Miroku's expression and saw only sincerity. She grinned as she walked through the door. "Definitely."