When he came down the street, it was total chaos. Those who stood nearest to Rukia ran around like dizzy chickens and tried to protect themselves against the attacker who had shot the man that lay with a bullet in the head in front of the young woman.

Before she would have had a chance to run away and thus get away, he grabbed her arm and whispered in her ear:

"Unless you want to stay here and wait to be killed, I would recommend you to come with me quietly. That is of course your choice whether you want to continue to live or not, Kuchiki Rukia."

At first she stiffened for a second when she heard him call her by her real name, but she nodded to him that she understood and quickly he pulled her away from the panic-stricken heap of people. Nobody seemed to notice them as they walked away from the crime scene, he with a firm grip around her arm. Either everyone was so panicked that they did not see it as something strange, or so they simply thought that they were a couple who, like themselves, just wanted to get away from the chaos.

Lucky for him was that nobody seemed to suspect that he might be the one who had shot, given that he went around with a sniper strapped to his back. All the people who ran around them were probably too shocked to notice the details, which were only positive for him.

When they were out of sight, he let go of her arm and pointed down the street on a black car that was parked in an alley. "Wait in the car, I'll be right back. I have to make sure the coast is clear before we leave."

Without waiting for an answer, he turned around and walked back the way they had come. He trusted that she would stay in the car and do not follow him, but if there was something he needed to worry least about for now, was whether she would listen to him or not, since he must make sure if he had left any evidence that at some point could tie him to the crime scene.

For every step he took he became more and more vigilant, listening for sounds, any at all, which would admonish him if anyone was following or was heading towards him. Strangely enough, he could not hear any other sounds other than from people who departed.

As he approached the place of the execution of his partner, he was immediately on guard. If the Organization already had gotten there, he must immediately turn back and bring Rukia to a safe place where they could hide out until things calmed down.

He pressed himself against the gable and made himself as invisible as it was now possible, just in case it would be people left who could see him. If the Organization would get hold of anyone of all the people who had found themselves on the spot when the execution happened, they could just as well remember both him and Rukia, among others. Not because it was such a great chance, but he had many times been around people who remembered the strangest things after they have experienced or witnessed a crime.

This would mean that he was in an even greater danger than just before he shot his partner. He did not think of what could conceivably happen if they got a hold of him. He had both seen and heard what happened to people that the Organization had catched and that did not want to talk. There had not been some beautiful sights.

In order not to lose himself in the negative thoughts that tried to get him in its grip, he looked up and got to his surprise see that the street was empty. Not a single living human being, he could catch a glimpse of even how much he looked. He concluded that all had become so frightened that they had fled head over heels to get away from the body as quickly as possible and possibly as far away as just went.

What he did not know was if someone had called the police yet, and if they had, they could not be far away, that was one thing that was certain. This in turn meant he had to hurry if he did not want to get caught.

Luckily, the Organization had not yet been able to reach the scene where his partner's dead body now lay. The blood had already begun to clot and he was filled with sorrow when the realization that he would never wake up, hit him. With tears in his eyes he bent down in front of his dead partner's body and closed his eyes.

"Forgive me, but I had no choice. I cannot kill her, not yet anyway. First I need to find out more about her and why she's so dangerous to us. Rest in peace now and let's hope we meet again soon, my friend." He kissed his partner's forehead tenderly, careful not to touch the blood that trickled out through the hole in his head.

He hated himself because he thought the thought, but the truth was that he did not want to leave no trace behind him if he could avoid it. That was what he had learned all these years in the service of the Organization:

If possible, leave no trace.

So he stood for a minute, with his head bent over his partner's dead body and one knee bent to the ground. He prayed for his comrade's soul that it would forgive him and understand why he had done as he had done, and that he would find peace wherever he might be.

He did not know if it was his imagination or not, but behind his closed eyelids, he seemed to hear his partner's voice thank him because he was honest with him and that he could now rest in peace, as long as he did what he thought was best for him.

When he stood up, he gave his partner a last look. He wanted to remember that face, with its brown skin, dark brown hair and eyes. He wanted to remember Yasutora Sado, also known as Chad, for what he looked like, not for the things he had done with him. He wanted to remember his partner as he looked like now, so peaceful he was where he lay on the ground in front of him.

He smiled at his partner one last time before he made a salute in honor of his partner, and turned around to go back to Rukia. The problem was just that she already stood in front of him.

And it was not all.

She stood before him with her pistol aimed against his forehead.

She held a black M9 in her hand. It glistened in the sun and he realized he had no chance against her with only his sniper, a model Barrett 50 cal. Strangely enough, he was not afraid, because he could see in her eyes that she was not going to shoot him. Was it something he has learned early it was to interpret people's facial expressions.

"What do you want me, Agent? Are you here to kill me?" Kuchiki Rukia asked while she watched into his brown eyes with her dark blue.

Her voice was light with a hint of hardness in. He did not have to listen again to realize that there was a threat in her questions. If you try anything, I will kill you without as much as blinking.

"And if I am, Kuchiki Rukia? Are you going to shoot me in cold blood, just like that? Without the slightest doubt? I can see it on you that you have not the slightest thought or reason to fire a single shot. Not yet, anyway."

To his surprise, a laugh escaped Rukia and she put back her M9 under her pant leg where she had kept it before. He caught a glimpse of a holster before she let her pant leg fall over her leg again.

Much to his chagrin a thought showed up that he did not want to think. Nice legs... It's rare to see a woman as she wearing pants instead of skirts.

"You're right, Agent." His thoughts were interrupted by her voice and pulled him back to reality. "I have no reason to kill you. Yet, anyway. Just remember this: Even the slightest movement against the sniper, who incidentally is a model Barrett 50 cal., I will not hesitate to put a bullet in you. Do you understand?"

He nodded and relaxed. It was not long before his good ear perceived the sound of screeching tires that were on their way towards them. They had wasted too much time already! He did not know if it was the police or the Organization which was heading towards them, but it did not matter at this time. The important thing was that they now had to move if they wanted to avoid detection.

"Quick, Rukia! In the car, before they see us together!" He dragged Rukia out from the execution site and off toward the car while he listened for the car tires screeching that would tell him how close the Organization was, if it was their car that was now coming towards them.

The probability was quite large.

Luckily for him they seemed to still have a minute left before they would arrive. Then he must also add that it would probably take them a few seconds to get everyone out of their cars and set them up. It would probably take one to two minutes before they were ready to search the area, no more than three.

Now he could see the car. Luckily, they had not thought of that he had put his car right here. They must have forgotten about that in the middle of everything else, he thought to himself, and locked up the car. Not that it mattered; it was only good for the both of them. This meant that they would have even a minute ahead to start with.

"Get in, I'll be right back." He lied down under the car and felt along the vehicle's underside.

Unless he was totally mistaken there would be a censor under the car, which enabled the Organization to find his car wherever he was on earth. If that were true, it would not matter where he and Rukia were on the earth, the Organization would catch up with them in a flash. They had agents all over the world, so it did not matter where he went if he had not found and destroyed that censor.

"There we have you ..." Quickly, he pulled the sensor out from underneath the car and as soon as he had managed to crawl out from under the car, he stomped on it so it split into a thousand pieces. A crunching of metal was the only sound and he could see the red light that just a few seconds ago had shone, was extinguished. It proved that the censor was destroyed for good.

After that he sat in the driver's seat and started the car. He turned around and was greeted by a pair of dark blue eyes that once again made him breathless. There was something with Rukia that made him completely lose his composure.

"Agent, where are we going?"

He again turned his head towards the road and drove out on it. "I have not the slightest idea where we are headed, Kuchiki Rukia, but one thing I am quite sure. I will not let the Organization get hold of you until I have received the answers I need."

He smiled before he again allowed himself to look at the young woman who sat beside him in the car's passenger seat. She was cute in a girly way and did not seem to be so old, possibly in his own age. She was not very tall - she reached him only to his chest - but enough that you would entertain a certain respect for her.

"Really? And could I ask what kind of questions that could be, Agent? And could I get to know the name of my kidnapper?" Her voice was calm, as if she asked a perfectly normal question about the weather instead of what he could possibly do with her when they arrived at the place where they could talk privately with each other.

"I want to know why the Organization is so interested in you, Rukia. You want to know my name? Then I will tell you." He turned around and looked Rukia in the eyes before he answered:

"My name is Kurosaki Ichigo and I am working for the Organization Soul Society. My mission is to kill you, Kuchiki Rukia."